


Kintsukuroi

by teaandabiccie



Series: Kintsugi [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alpha Monkey D. Luffy, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Crew as Family, Dubious Consent, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Omega Roronoa Zoro, The Straw Hats love and support each other dang it, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, Zoro and Luffy both can and should be read as demisexual, some darker stuff in this but with a hopeful ending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:47:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 37,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26513917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teaandabiccie/pseuds/teaandabiccie
Summary: An undercover mission teaches Zoro how little he understands about his secondary gender. Luffy learns that he probably could care about his a little bit more. And Sanji learns that there are many different kinds of love - and a number of different ways to show it.
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy/Roronoa Zoro, Mugiwara Kaizoku | Strawhat Pirates & Roronoa Zoro, Roronoa Zoro/Vinsmoke Sanji
Series: Kintsugi [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1944859
Comments: 52
Kudos: 180





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Weirdly this was an idea that came to me in a dream that I then couldn't get rid of. The first chapter is a bit more of a prologue to tease at what's coming next.
> 
> My whole plan might end up morphing as I write but at the moment, I'm expecting ZoLu to be endgame with an unexpected ZoSan moment which will end up being more platonic. Our boys are going on a journey in this fic.
> 
> There will also be a lot of solidarity and platonic love between the Straw Hats.
> 
> Renamed as of 30/09/20 as I'm enough of an entity of chaos to realise I had a much better title for this fic all along.

Frustration hung in the air like Sanji's cigarette smoke. In the middle of the table, the ashtray overflowed with cigarettes that had either been puffed to completion or snapped in two during a particularly heated gesticulation. Nami had just got up to open the door, her own irritation evident in the stiffness of her steps, when Zoro spoke up.

"I'll do it."

Every eye in the room turned to him. The swordsman sat with his back against the wall. He had been leaning there with his arms behind his head and eyes closed as the conversation had been going on, seemingly asleep. But now his arms came down as he sat up and were folded over his chest. He looked at each of them in turn, looking away from them quickly.

"What?" It was Nami who spoke.

"I said, I'll be the person on the inside," said Zoro. This time he did hold her shocked and incredulous gaze.

Sanji remembered to pull the cigarette from his lips before spitting: "A guard won't be good enough, Marimo. We need a person who gets to move around. I don't like it any more than you do but in the absence of an... _entertainer_ , an attendant would be a better person to infiltrate to-"

Zoro cut him off. "I heard it all the first time, shit cook. I said I'd do it."

"Nobody would want to hire a brute like you to look after their sweet, delicate omegas."

"I _am_ an omega, dumbass," said Zoro, glowering up at the chef.

The air began to sour as Zoro got to his feet. Usopp squeaked.

Sanji sat up, rocking on the ball of his foot, ready to launch but holding back. He knew the swordsman was an omega, just like he knew that Robin was an alpha. And he knew these facts like he knew that Zoro could take a nap in any location, regardless of outside interference, noise levels or climate. Like he knew that Usopp picked at his nail beds when he was nervous and thought nobody was paying attention to him. It was simply a thing that was true. It didn't require further thought on his part. It didn't particularly matter to him. So far, it hadn't even caused an inconvenience.

But it was also very easy to forget. Sanji had grown up with a very specific picture in his mind of what omegas were. And though he also knew that thirty percent of omegas were male, just like a similar percentage of alphas were female, Roronoa Zoro with his superhuman strength, uncouth nature and apparent desire to fight Sanji at every turn did not fit that image. It didn't help that the man had impeccable scent control for the vast majority of the time. So he neither looked, smelled nor acted like Sanji thought an omega should.

In Sanji's mind, omegas were supposed to be soft, delicate entities whom, even if they didn't strictly need protection (like the ladies), still deserved to receive it. They were supposed to be inviting, beautiful in personality and appearance. They were supposed to make him want to pamper them, hold them, care for them. Just as they were supposed to be the sort of people to care for everyone else. They were also, whenever he thought about them, at least, mostly female.

Zoro's irritated expression negated all of that. Sanji got the distinct impression that it was only Luffy's strangely calm presence between them that was preventing this fight from starting.

"You're still a savage brute," Sanji replied. "Besides, Robin-chan said that all attendants are betas, mossbrain. Do you really think you can fool everyone there into thinking you're one of them?"

At that, Zoro bristled.

Robin set her coffee mug down on the table with a little more force than necessary. "I don't think that's what Kenshi-san is suggesting."

"Zoro," said Nami with surprising softness, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. "Do you understand what you'd be expected to do?"

Still scowling, Zoro nodded, his eyes dropping to the floor. At the other end of the table, Usopp looked like he wanted to sink through the ship and into the ocean. Luffy set down the last bone that remained of his 'plan-making snack' and turned to look at Zoro, expression unreadable.

"We can't afford to waste time here," said the swordsman in a low voice. "As an omega, it won't look weird if I'm talking to all the other residents or asking questions. We'll get the information quicker - and if the girl's there, I can just grab her and fight my way out."

"You couldn't even _find_ your way out," muttered Sanji.

Zoro didn't even react to the bait, let alone rise to it. Sanji didn't know why because the swordsman was a grown ass man - and man was a term only loosely applied to that monster - but the lack of response put a bad taste in his mouth. It was spoiling the coffee he had made them. But it wasn't his decision.

Luffy voiced it first. "I don't like it."

All eyes turned to him. From his position next to the captain, Sanji also had a clear view of Zoro, who was eying Luffy with uncharacteristic wariness. The bad taste got worse.

"Why can't we just go in and kick their asses?" Luffy finished.

Nami sighed. "You know why. They have other locations. We know the guy's daughter was taken here but we don't know if she's been taken somewhere else and we need to figure out where she might be. And didn't you want to go after whoever is responsible?"

"Yeah. So why don't we go to all of the places and kick all of their asses?" said Luffy, scratching at his arm in frustration.

"We don't know where they all are. If they find out we're after her specifically, they might do something to her to make a statement," said Nami, sharply. "This is the quickest and safest way for everyone."

"Except Zoro," said Usopp quietly.

"I'll be fine," said Zoro, dismissively.

Sanji stared at the swordsman, waiting for his expression to change. It didn't. Or before it could, Usopp suddenly straightened like he'd taken a cattle prod to the spine.

"He can't!" Usopp cried. "He has a bounty. What if they want to turn him in for it?"

Nami clicked her tongue. Her expression was pinched as she looked back down to the table. She rubbed at her arms like she was cold. Sanji debated whether to offer her his jacket. Robin picked up her coffee mug, holding it in both hands even though the contents was probably lukewarm at best. Sanji should replenish it for her but something about the silence told him not to move just yet.

"It's fine," said Zoro.

Nami looked like she wasn't sure whether to hit him on the head or bash hers against the table.

"That's a very good point," said Robin. "Kenshi-san's bounty is quite the handsome amount. It depends whether they would value the potential for longterm income over immediate cash."

Zoro shrugged his shoulders. "It's fine," he repeated. "If I go in as just some omega, they won't even know it's me."

"You have _green_ hair," said Sanji, fixing the idiot with a look.

Zoro regarded him calmly, shifting the position of his legs to settle back against the wall. Something about his eyes seemed tired. His posture was too deliberate to be relaxed. "Other people have green hair too."

"Are other people also directionally challenged mossballs with three earrings, three swords and only two pairs of pants?" Sanji retorted, the irritation and frustration that had built up inside him over the course of this conversation spilling out of his mouth.

Zoro's eyebrow twitched. The tension in his body switched to the one created by the usual pre-fight fury that developed on a near daily basis between them. Just like that, Sanji felt some of his own tension fade away. And wondered how that could be, considering they hadn't even worked off any energy in a fight yet.

"I can take the earrings out, shitty cook," the swordsman said. "And I'll leave my swords here... And my haramaki. If I wear different clothes and give them a different name, they won't realise who I am."

"Not everyone is as stupid as you, marimo," Sanji replied.

"Tch," said Zoro. There was still anger in his eyes but now it felt testier. "Nobody's looking for Roronoa Zoro, the omega. They hear 'pirate hunter' and make assumptions. Even if they think I look like the wanted poster, they'll just assume there's some resemblance."

There was a moment of silence as the words were digested. Sanji wanted desperately to refute Zoro's claim, wanted to maintain that people were not stupid and someone might notice, wanted to point out that going in alone and unarmed was dangerous. Too dangerous. But he had seen the swordsman fight - even without the swords, he was never powerless. And Zoro wasn't wrong. Sanji himself, with his relatively insensitive beta nose, had assumed that Zoro would be an alpha or beta at first. Before Nami had told him, he had been convinced, and even afterwards, he hadn't been able to completely believe it.

Robin broke the hush. "It may even work to our advantage. Establishments like this are visited by people of all walks of life. Pirates often have an excess of gold to spare and a desire to seak pleasure. It would not appear out of the ordinary for one of us to pay the place a visit... and if we were to select the company of a person who bears some resemblance to our swordsman then that would not be so odd either."

"But Luffy has a bounty too. If he's seen, won't people think Zoro is Zoro?" asked Usopp.

"Our ship will have been noticed in any case," replied Robin. "If we can make it appear as though Swordsman-san is still on it, it may actually help our deceit."

"I could draw up a fake Zoro if I can find a big enough piece of wood," mused Usopp.

"Cook-san is about the same size as Kenshi-san. If we can manufacture a suitable wig, he might make a good substitute," Robin added.

Sanji choked. For the first time all evening, an almost sadistic smile spread across Zoro's face. It was easy to pretend that the redness of his face came from the horror of what he was being asked to do. It was far less easy to pretend that the marimo's joy didn't ease some of his own discomfort.

Shaking the whole thing out of his mind, Sanji got up and began to gather the empty cups and plates while Usopp muttered about measuring his head and Nami offered period comments about beli. Sanji did not fail to notice that these comments had far less bite, far less _Nami_ than usual. Instead he simply took her offered coffee cup and asked if he could get her another drink.

Over the next cup off coffee, they (mostly Nami) came up with a plan to get Zoro into the Blooming Orchid Omega House - and how to keep him from having to deal with unfavourable customers. Meanwhile, Zoro remained in his spot against the wall, arms tightly folded and eyes closed, speaking only when spoken to. Luffy munched his way through a plate of biscuits not meant for him, chewing surprisingly slowly and penseively.

"I think that's as good as we're going to get," said Nami, rubbing at her eyes. "I will take a job in reception. From there, I should have some control over who gets visit Zoro. Luffy and Sanji, you two are the only betas left on the crew so you're going to be Zoro's visitors. Luffy, are you listening? You absolutely can't call him Zoro-"

"But Zoro is Zoro!" muttered Luffy, words muffled by the arms he was resting his face on.

"-unless that is how you intend to sell your visit, as a replacement for the company of the first mate," Robin interjected. "It may gain the interest of people around but it wouldn't be so unbelievable for a captain to be harbouring feelings for a first mate whom he cannot have. It would make for quite the unrequited love story."

"So I can call Zoro Zoro?" asked Luffy, lifting his head.

Nami shot Robin a look. "Only if you tell him that's what you want to call him. Remember he's supposed to be someone who just looks like Zoro."

"Yosh! I'll do that then."

"Great, well, I'm going to sleep now. We'll sort out some clothes for Zoro in the morning," said Nami, leaving her coffee cup on the table as she went.

Sanji was taking it to the sink when Luffy stood up. He watched - everyone did - from the corner of his eye as the captain crouched in front of Zoro, who wasn't really napping yet but was giving a good go at looking like it, and grabbed the swordsman's face with both hands.

At this, Zoro's eyes snapped open.

"Does Zoro really want to do this?" asked Luffy with surprising softness. It was the Captain Voice, the one he used when he was about to get serious with one of them. There was something about it that demanded truth and today, it made even Sanji want to squirm.

Zoro hesitated. Luffy held his gaze and his face and didn't move.

Finally, the swordsman sighed. "It's the best choice, Sencho."

For a long moment, Luffy continued to just look at him. "It's not if Zoro doesn't want to do it."

"It's not-" Zoro began. He shifted backwards but the hands holding his face merely dropped down to his shoulders. "It's fine. I said I'd do it so I'll do it."

At this, Luffy deflated, stepping over Zoro's legs without standing up straight and looking momentarily like a rubbery crab. "Fine," he said. "But I get to beat up the boss guy when you find him."

"It's a deal," said Zoro, closing his eyes again and Luffy's head settled on his shoulder.

They didn't speak again, not when Sanji finished brewing another coffee for Robin to take on watch, not when he kicked Usopp for suggesting he dye his real hair green, not when Chopper came and curled up in the crook of Zoro's other arm. But as Sanji finished tidying away the cups, he heard the quiet, sleepy voice of the captain.

"You can change your mind if you want to. It's okay."

The swordsman only uttered a soft hum to say that he had heard.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zoro's first day at the Blooming Orchid as he searches for information.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a lot of exposition in this chapter. It got long. We'll get more into the meat of things when Zoro's role in his new job becomes more apparent.
> 
> There are also some OCs introduced this chapter. They won't be a focus - they're simply there to do their jobs.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

Zoro waited until the footsteps receded from the door to cross the room he had been given. As soon as silence fell, he walked straight to the bed and sank down into it. Everything was wrong. The bed underneath his back was soft and moulded to his shape. It was almost as though it was cradling his body. It should feel supportive. It should feel comfortable. The sheets were smooth against his skin and pleasant to the touch. Everything about this room was modelled after quality. It was supposed to make people want to stay here.

But it wasn't the the hard wooden surface of the Going Merry's deck. It wasn't the rotating hammocks or the now-wonky couch. It wasn't the rug - which had always felt suprisingly soft against his face whenever he and the cook passed out there. This was too soft. It was too much. It was also too little. 

There wasn't a hint of anybody's presence here but his own. No lingering cigarette smoke, no tang of citrus, no sea salt, no spice, no parchment. Nothing but clean linen and the vaguest hint of the floral perfume from the corridors.

It felt wrong. His skin itched. He resisted the urge to rub his face over the pillow just to make it smell a little more like home - or a little less like nothing. Then it occurred to him: nobody was watching. Nobody was here. In fact, he was _supposed_ to act like an omega should. There was no reason not to.

So he did. And it made absolutely no difference. His own scent was already all over him. It wasn't what was missing. It didn't help.

With an irritated click of the tongue, he jumped up off the bed and headed over to one of the chairs instead. His room came with two of them pushed up to a low table, on which sat a singular white orchid. He wondered briefly if it and all the others he had passed on the way here were real. Was he expected to water it? He was just about to pick up the orchid's pot to check when a butterfly settled on top of it.

For a moment, Zoro simply stared at the dark coloured butterfly, a pair of disturbingly realistic eyes on the wings staring back at him.

"You don't want to be trapped in here," he said to it, finally.

Its wings fluttered but it did not fly. Zoro grabbed a glass and ripped a piece of paper from the notepad on his unit before advancing on the insect with purpose. Koushiro had always insisted that insects be released with care and treated with respect when they caused no harm.

A knock on the door made him fumble with it.

"Mori? May I come in?" The voice was polite and musical.

It took Zoro a moment to remember that the name referred to him.

"Yeah- yes," he replied.

A man entered the room. He was dressed in loose, flowing clothing and adorned with golden jewellery. His arms and ankles sported gold bangles that chimed as he walked. He reminded Zoro of Vivi the last time he had seen her - poised and elegant. He almost flowed towards him rather than walked. A single eyebrow raised as the man's dark eyes flicked between Zoro, his bug catching apparatus and the butterfly.

"I see you've found the moths," said the man, smoothly.

"Moths?" echoed Zoro.

The butterfly took flight, heading up to the ceiling and out of Zoro's reach. In spite of himself, he sighed. He would have to get it later.

"Yes, they look like butterflies because of the red on the wings but they are moths." The man's voice was soft as he spoke, soft and melodic. "They are attracted to the orchids and there are orchids in every room here."

He paused as he reached Zoro, holding out his hand palm down, but Zoro's attention was half-occupied by the moth that now settled directly above them, wings spread to reveal those oddly human looking eyes.

"They have eyes," remarked the man. Underneath the casual tone was something slightly sharper, sharp enough to snap Zoro's attention back to him just as the hand was retracted.

"I'm Karamel," said the man with a very deliberate smile. "It is a pleasure to meet you. I have been asked to show you to our baths."

"Mori," Zoro replied with a stiff nod of his head, about to leave it at that before he remembered that manners were important now. "The pleasure is all mine."

A scent so sweet it was sickly washed over him like the excessive desserts that the cook sometimes made for Nami, Robin and Chopper. He closed his mouth, taking in a strained breath through his nose, which only made it feel more cloying. It was a move that was unmistakeably supposed to let Zoro know that other man was also an omega. The sweet scent was probably supposed to be soothing. It certainly wasn't malicious. But it was too much.

Resisting the urge to take a step backwards, Zoro set the glass and the paper on the table before shrugging off the haori Nami had thrown on him as an afterthought. The man appraised him as he did, dark eyes sliding up from Luffy's spare sandals (acquired in Alabasta and immediately rejected) to the neckline formed by his yukata.

Karamel smiled as he turned away. "Well, Mori, if you would follow me?"

Zoro did, the new name feeling odd to both his tongue and his ears.

_"How about Marimo?" the cook had said, fingers drumming on the table as Usopp tightened a tape measure around his head._

_Zoro had shot that one down immediately. Usopp had held out a hand and stammered in his direction to hold him back as the cook sat smugly in the sniper's grasp._

_"You're the one about to be wearing an actual marimo on his head."_

_It had been Robin to suggest it. "How about Mori? The name refers to woodland. It's very fitting."_

_Zoro had shot her look, before she'd added, "Since our foes will not be able to see the wood for the trees."_

He was the one who couldn't see the wood for the trees as he followed Karamel along corridors that all looked the same until they reached the baths. On the way, they passed several more orchids displayed in alcoves in the wall, with several more moths nearby.

"Don't people complain about the moths?" Zoro asked as the door to the baths closed behind him.

He didn't miss the flash of alarm in Karamel's eyes before other omega answered, "No. They tend to keep still when we are entertaining guests. They are quite decorative. I... would advise you not to worry about them too much. The boss is... rather attached to them. Now if you just place your clothes in here..."

"Ah," said Zoro. He took the basket offered to him and turned his back on the other man to undress, feeling rather than seeing the eyes on his back.

When he placed the basket on the side and turned back to Karamel, the other's eyes immediately fell on the jagged scar across his chest. A gasp escaped his lips. The other omega closed the space between them like the ropey scar had attached itself to him and pulled him there. Zoro's heart skipped a beat.

 _Shit._ He hadn't thought about the scar Mihawk had given him. It wasn't that he had forgotten about it. It was more that it had never been important on the Going Merry. Everyone knew he had it and while his loss was shameful, the promise he had made on the back of it was not. Besides which, his actions, his failures, his promises - they were all a badge he had to wear.

But it was not exactly an attractive feature on an omega. He tried to resist the urge to flinch away as Karamel pressed a hand to it.

"Well your ankle scars are easy and not an uncommon sight but this? This will take some work." He ran his finger down the ridge of the scar and this time, Zoro did shudder. "Is it sensitive?"

"Not really," Zoro replied, shrugging his shoulders slightly.

The gaze fixed on him made him feel uncomfortable. It was held there for just a moment too long. "I won't ask how you got this," the other man said with the most genuine softness of the day. "You're not the only one like us to have scars." 

His hand trailed up from Zoro's scar and gently carressed his face. Zoro tensed underneath the too-familiar, too-light touch.

"Don't worry," said Karamel, misinterpreting the source of his discomfort. "I can work with this. For now we can do something to camouflage it but if you prove yourself enough of an asset, the boss might have it fixed."

"Fixed? It's old. It's already healed," Zoro said, more dismissively than intended.

Karamel was still smiling at him, his brown eyes soft and looking into Zoro's own - even though Zoro looked away, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

"Have you ever heard of kintsukuroi?" The man said softly, taking hold of Zoro's hand.

Zoro wanted to jerk his hand away. The gesture was childlike, condescending and unnecessary for a swordsman who needed to keep his hands free just in case. But he didn't have a sword here and this was how these omegas behaved with each other. He had been told before; they should be soft with each other, take care of their own. It was casual intimacy, no roles, no expectations. Simple care and kindness. He had attended the stupid lessons Koushiro had forced upon him, watched the way the others interacted, and privately decided he wanted nothing to do with any of it. He could fight his way out of any situation. As far as he was concerned, his secondary gender was Swordsman.

But his combat abilities were not going to get him information here, and what the other man was bringing up sounded suspiciously close to the devil fruit power of the girl he was looking for, so he allowed himself to be lead to a stool and sat on it obediently, focusing on the mission at hand: getting information.

"The art of repairing pots with gold?" he prompted.

"To make it more beautiful than it had been before," Karamel finished.

Zoro heard the rustle of clothing and the drawing of water but did not turn to look, debating his next words.

Karamel continued without prompting. "There is something similar that can be done with people - if the boss considers you worth it."

"Repairing a person with gold..." Zoro mused, falsley, keeping his tone as light and conversational as he was able to. "That sounds like a myth or a high grade of tattooing."

Warm water was poured over him. He didn't flinch. He didn't know why but it was more of a shock that the water wasn't cold. Karamel walked around him to pick up some soap and Zoro realised that he had shed his clothing from earlier. A glint of gold caught the light around his wrists and ankles.

Karamel gave a slight hum in response, lathering soap in Zoro's hair. His delicate fingers rubbed at Zoro's scalp, moving down behind his ears to massage his neck and his shoulders, all with practised ease. Zoro tried to will the tension from his body so it would look as though it was working. This wasn't the place to be uncomfortable with a stranger's hands on his body - particularly when they meant him no harm. He needed to be on guard in a different way.

One hand left his back and Zoro released a breath he hadn't known he had been holding. A moment later, Karamel's hand slid over his shoulder and offered him the soap so he could wash the rest of his body. It lingered there longer than necessary. Longer than Zoro needed to notice that the line of gold around the man's wrist was not a bangle. It was too thin, not uniform. Some areas were thick and textured while others had swirls branching off of them. It was clearly formed as art, but looked as though it had been poured into a mold rather than sculpted.

He brushed that area of Karamel's wrist as he grabbed for the soap, feeling a twinge of discomfort at initiating the touch without express permission. The gold bracelet did not move; as Zoro had suspected, it was embedded into the skin. The soap slipped between Zoro's fingers. He muffled the beginnings of a curse. Karamel squeezed his shoulder and leaned over him to pick it up, a knowing smile on his lips.

"I have been here for almost ten years," he said deliberately, placing the soap back into Zoro's hand. "You might say I've proven myself very valuable."

"Ten years?" The words were out before he could retract them.

Karamel chuckled. "Yes, I'm twenty-seven and I was brought here at eighteen. A piece of advice from an older omega - take good care of your skin. This line of work might not have been what you wanted but this is a better place for our dynamic than most others. They can afford to have higher standards - both for employees and customers."

Zoro turned his head to the side so he could see the man scrubbing his back from the corner of his eye. The other's tone was very casual and matter of fact. There was nothing about his posture that implied he was uncomfortable with what he was saying. And why would he be? It occurred to Zoro there and then that this had been this omega's life.

A brief image flashed before his eyes of Kuina and all her bitterness at the role she was expected to perform - just as a woman, without even the burden of a secondary gender yet. Then his own simmering rage has he had been taught the correct ways of serving tea and pouring sake for an alpha partner he never wanted. Shimotsuki village was behind the times, he had thought. It was a very traditional place. The rest of East Blue would not be like that. The Grand Line definitely wouldn't be.

The other places he had been to since had not been exactly the same but they hadn't been different enough either. Zoro's biggest freedom came not from just leaving the dojo and the village but from nobody knowing who or what he was. Once he had become known as the pirate hunter, the only expectation placed upon him was that he would be strong. And that was an expection he lived for.

"Don't worry too much," said Karamel, rubbing gentle three quarter circles on his back. "You have a handsome face and a body like yours will definitely appeal to some of our beta clientele. I am not saying you won't have to work hard to earn your keep but don't worry about being thrown away without the chance to prove your worth."

Zoro did not know what to say to that. It was obviously supposed to sound reassuring but instead it brought a bad taste to his mouth. His busied himself with cleaning the front of his body, hands lingering over the scar down his front.

"Don't worry," Karamel repeated in his too soft voice. "I told you - I can do something about that."

His hands rubbed up Zoro's back and into his hair, ruffling it for a moment before he moved away to begin the rinsing process. Once again, Zoro's eyes were drawn to the gold in his skin as he wondered how best to ask about it.

He settled for a more direct approach. "When did that happen to you?"

"The scar or the result?" Karamel questioned, not waiting to tip the water over him.

Zoro brushed it out of his eyes. "You didn't ask about my scars. The kintsukuroi. I've never heard of that technique being applied to people before."

Karamel whistled as he went for more water, looking upwards. His lips twitched before he mused, "Well, I was one of the first. This.... _method_ is a fairly recent addition to the boss's possessions... six months ago, give or take?"

It checked out. The missing girl had been kidnapped eight months ago. The missing omega girl with devil fruit powers that allowed her to fill small gaps with gold. But how to ask about it?

He was silent for a moment as Karamel went to rinse him again. He watched the way the man's skin stretched around the gold design around his ankles as he returned, looking for any joins in the gold. He didn't see any; if the girl - _Kiyoko, her name was Kiyoko_ \- had done it then there wouldn't be any joins to be found.

"What method?" he asked, swiping away the water again.

Karamel set the bucket he had been using aside and paused where he stood. He looked at Zoro for a long moment, the smile on his face partly faded. Zoro swiped at a linger soap sud clinging to the scar tissue above his belly button. Karamel's eyes followed the movement and sighed as the moment passed.

"It's not something I have the right to say. Hopefully, you will out sooner rather than the later. It was painful but not perhaps as much as the name would have you believe - not as much as I imagine it hurt to get that." He straightened up, lifting his arms to stretch. "Come on. We have enough time to allow you to soak a little before you'll need to get ready. You have a lot of tension in your shoulders and back."

Zoro stiffened. "Get ready?"

Karamel nodded, offering a hand to help him up. Zoro wanted to ignore it. It was an unnecessary gesture. But he felt he had to take it so as not to offend the older omega. He did not receive an answer until he had been led to a large stone bath and the other man had already stepped inside.

"Yes, for work."

Zoro's eyes widened. He faltered with one foot on the edge of the bath. Karamel's thumb ran across his knuckles, bringing him back in control of his body. Nami had told him that he wouldn't be expected to entertain any guests on the first night. Nami had also insisted that her plan to ensure he wouldn't have to entertain anyone would work. But her certain smile hadn't reached her eyes. He shuddered as his foot sank into the hot water.

Karamel released his hand, sinking into the bath properly. "Don't worry," he said, and the words, now almost a mantra, irritated Zoro more than he should let them. "It will just be a shift in the bar. I'm told you know how to serve drinks properly but any of us will help you if you need it. Who knows? You might catch an eye or two."

Zoro willed himself to relax as he too sank into the water.

-

The bar was better. It was filled with drunken chatter and clinking glasses. There was a musician in the corner, a beautiful beta woman (or so he assumed) keeping up a pleasant background noise that was almost at odds with patrons, who were only getting rowdier. The familiar smell of alcohol mingled with the excessive scents of the other omega servers. This was an establishment that catered mostly to betas and most of the customers followed suit and had more muted scents as a result. But there were enough people in here that it all intermingled and it felt almost normal to Zoro. However odd it was being a server instead of sitting at the bar drinking, it was still an environment he knew. If it weren't for the eyes on him, he might almost feel comfortable.

After the bath, during which Zoro had almost been able to relax, Karamel had given him an outfit fairly similar in design to his own, adorning his wrists and ankles with golden bracelets. His clothing fastened around the neck with a gold design almost like a decorative collar. It felt as though a vast masjority of his back was exposed. It was simultaneously too much and not enough. The ensemble was finished off with the draping of a longer and more delicate chain around his neck, which clinked when he walked.

_"Only costume jewellery for now but it looks the part."_

He had then been turned over to a woman named Ruby, who was apparently in charge of him during his shift. Like Karamel, she was older than he was but unlike Karamel, Ruby's skin was showing fine lines that indicated her age. There had been something tight in her expression as Karamel had introduced 'the newbie' to her, something beyond the make up she wore. Red painted lips had pursed as she had looked him over, sized him up, before a practised smile had replaced it.

Still, she had chatted amicably to him as she had given him an exaggerated tour of the bar, to the amusement of the few patrons who had been present when their shift had began. From the way the customers acted so familiarly to her, he assumed this was her role in the house - and she was certainly good at it. At one point, she even vaulted behind the bar and began mixing drinks while dancing to the musician's current song.

Zoro kept his distance, taking orders from patrons too lazy or otherwise preoccupied to go up to the bar and delivering drinks ordered to tables. The music thankfully reduced the need to talk to people. It did not prevent a man having difficulty sitting up straight from slapping him on the ass as he walked by with a tray of drinks for a different table, but before Zoro could react, the scowl was wiped off his his face by Ruby, who swept in with a sunny smile, a wink and some choice words:

"Gentlemen, please, buy a guy a drink first, won't you?" Even though she was leaning forwards as she spoke to him, leaning down to be heard over the music but also providing the patron in question with an excellent view of her cleavage, Ruby made a gesture with her fingers to wave him off.

While they were distracted with whatever else she was saying, he took the opportunity to leave setting his tray down on the correct table and delivering each drink to the correct recipient. That table, luckily for him, were far more involved in an escalating debate between a very tall man and a man with a bushy brown beard than his presence, and he was able to slink back to the bar the long way unscathed.

After a little while, Ruby sat on a barstool beside him, leaning her elbow on the bar and her face on the back of her hand. The posture was dainty, drawing his attention to her red painted lips, from which a sigh emerged.

"I know some men like that scandalised embarrassed thing you had going on there, but you do need to get used to it," she said, just loud enough for him to hear her.

He grimaced, not realising she'd noticed his reaction.

"Don't pull that ugly face," she admonished gently. 

He frowned harder then put a conscious effort into stopping it. Ruby giggled. Unlike her false enjoyment when talking to the customers, this smile reached her eyes and crinkled crow's feet at their corners. She schooled her face like he had, her voice taking on a more serious tone.

"A lot of them are just here for a drink and some flirtatious conversation but some of these people might take a shine to you and buy your time. While you are working here, you advertising yourself. Present the image you want to maintain."

It wasn't bad advice. There was no malice in her voice, only a slightly sad look in eyes which looked momentarily beyond him. But it rubbed him up the wrong way and he fought against the urge to scowl.

"It seems like you've built an image for yourself," he said to her.

She turned her attention back to the tables but nobody was waving them over. "I have been here a long time," she said so softly that he almost missed it.

He wasn't sure what compelled him to ask. "Do you like it here?"

She looks back at him, just regarding all the features of his face for a moment. Then she leans over and rubs his bare upper arm. "I have done."

He lowered his voice. "You don't anymore?"

She adjusted the positioning of the fastening around his neck, finishing the gesture by smoothing down the fabric. "I do, but this isn't a place you can stay forever."

She brushed past him a little too closely on her way to another table, holding her shoulders a little bit too high. Her steps were not as fluid. He didn't know the woman but for some reason, it felt like it when he upset Nami.

For the rest of the night, they barely spoke. Both of them were kept busy by the patrons. Zoro made an effort to keep his face from showing either his discomfort or his fervent desire to take one of the bottles he was pouring from and pour its contents down his own throat.

Finally, as the day rolled into another, the patrons in the bar began to empty out, leaving only a couple of tables still resolutely finishing drinks. The musician had long since packed away and left. The last call went out and was served and only then did Zoro come to stand by his supervisor, who gave his upper arm a squeeze.

"First shift done - how do you feel?" she said all trace of her earlier strain gone.

Zoro debated lying but settled on, "Ready to sleep."

She giggled, the fake one again this time, though the look she was giving him was soft. "Get it in while you can. Give it another fifteen minutes and we'll start ushering the stragglers outside."

Zoro nodded. "Any chance that we get a drink after that?"

She gave him an odd look.

At that exact moment, he realised how his question had sounded. "I don't mean- I'm not trying-"

She cut him off. "When a patron buys us a drink, you know it's a non-alcoholic cocktail, right?"

He didn't. "What?"

"The alcohol interferes with the medication they give us - or so they say - that and it's important to keep your head if you want to perform at your best." She nudged him with her elbow. "Alter the sour expression. There are still customers."

He turned his face towards the bar that he now sat on the correct side of and was still denied the glory of. Behind him, the door opened. Ruby stiffened and nudged his arm.

"It's the boss," she breathed. If he hadn't trained to be observant, he might have missed her words.

Zoro turned, regarding the party of five people entering the bar and guessing which was the boss. He settled on the man with the large brown coat and gold tipped cane. From a distance, the coat appeared to be some kind of ragged fur but as the boss approached - and he was approaching the two of them - Zoro realised that it wasn't. The coat was a brown cloak upon which rested a number of the same moths that he had seen around the house earlier - the ones with the eyes.

He could feel Ruby's forced calm next to him, something sour tinging the scent she had been releasing in small amounts all evening like her personal perfume. She clamped down on it quickly, only the last lingering vestiges of it remaining on her clothes. Surprising himself, Zoro allowed some of his own scent to leak out, calm, steady, determined. She spared him a glance from the corner of her eye before slapping on her most sincere fake smile.

"So you're my new employee," came a nasally voice as the man came to a halt in front of them.

The man was shorter than he was by a few inches and portly, sporting a greying pencil moustache. On his head was a hat, tilted slightly to the side. He lifted the cane under Zoro's chin, pushing him to tilt his face from side to side to enable to man to appraise it. The scent of Ruby's cinnamon kept him grounded and reminded him that however much he wanted to snap that cane in half, he had a role to play here.

Swallowing his pride, he said, "Yes, sir. My name is Mori, sir."

This seemed to please the man, who was now examining Zoro's body with interest. "Turn," he said.

Zoro did, Ruby's arm brushing his as he did so and reminding him not make an ugly face - even if the man couldn't see it from behind.

"Good," said the boss. "Good, yes, you'll make quite an asset."

A moth flew from the man's cloak to the bar in front of the Zoro, wings fluttering in a way that made it seem like the eyes blinked. With an underlying feeling of bloodlust that reminded him of kitetsu, Zoro's fingers twitched. He wanted nothing more than to swat the moth away. He'd start with the moth then move on to the man.

"Do you like them?" asked the boss, taking a step forward to look down at the same moth Zoro had been regarding with distaste. The voice was too close, too weasely.

_Don't cut him. You promised Luffy._

Another moth fluttered down onto the back of the man's hand as he continued without waiting for Zoro's answer. "I think the eyes are very striking."

Zoro looked down from the disturbing brown eyeballs decorating the moth's wings up to the boss's face. And into the exact same brown eyes. The man blinked. The moth's wings fluttered. _What?_

"They are my very precious pets," continued the boss, stroking the furry body of the moth on his hand. "As you are."

The moth took flight and rejoined the man's cloak. The one on the bar flew up and settled on Zoro's exposed shoulder. Zoro didn't flinch at the brushing of the moth's body, neither did he waver under the slightly unhinged look being given to him. The boss continued to smile, reaching out to take the moth from Zoro's shoulder. Zoro did not react to the too intentional brush of cold fingers against his skin.

"Well, Mori, I will look forward to seeing your first performance," he said, before turning and sweeping away.

Another pair of omega servers were already in the process of reminding the two remaining tables that the bar was closing. Both stood aside as the boss left without a word to either of them. His entourage followed immediately, which seemed to kickstart the departure of the remaining customers. Zoro wondered if their skin was crawling as much as his was.

Once he was certain they were gone, he turned back to Ruby, who had started wiping down the bar. 

"What does he mean?" he asked quietly, suspecting he already knew the answer.

Ruby stopped what she was doing and very pointedly looked up to the clock mounted on the wall, where a moth sat, the boss's brown eyes staring emptily from its open wings.

"Entertaining guests," she said and returned immediately to the cleaning.

The moth flew down from the clock and settled on the bar in the space between Zoro and Ruby. Ruby turned her face away from it.

 _"They have eyes,"_ Karamel had said.

Ruby's response did not answer his question. Until it did.

 _Sorry, Luffy,_ Zoro thought. _I don't think I can leave this one for you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Next chapter: Zoro receives his first visitor...


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sanji visits Zoro and it's not quite what he expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know nothing about wine tasting and it shows.
> 
> Warnings for some internalised homophobia and sexual content in this chapter. Some allusions to darker themes in this chapter as well.
> 
> I wasn't sure about the opening scene with Nami for this but I thought I should leave it in since it's exposition that may be useful later. I also don't have a beta reader and type a lot of this up straight into this draft on my phone. I have read it through for typos but do let me know if any remain!
> 
> Zoro might seem a bit ooc here but I promise there is a reason to be revealed later on.

Sanji bumped into Nami outside of the bakery at the exact moment that the town hall's clock chimed eight. Nami fell backwards, hitting the floor with a squeak of surprise, still hugging the paper bag containing her purchases.

"Hey, watch it!" she snarled up at him.

"I am so sorry!" He offered her his hand immediately, fighting back his guilt and concern. He had agreed to this plan. He couldn't stray from it now. "Ah, beautiful goddess, _I_ should have fallen for _you_ in both body and soul. Are you alright?"

"Hmph," said Nami, tightening her grip on the paper bag under one arm as she accepted his hand up. "I'm alright."

Sanji nodded seriously to let Nami know her message was understood. _I'm alright._ Everything was going accordingly to plan.

"Are you sure? Is there anything I can do for you to atone for the sin of knocking you down? Dinner this evening, perhaps?"

"I'm sure," Nami replied coldly. Sanji shuddered. Nami was so beautiful, even when she was acting cruel. "I have work this evening. Shame, you'll have to pick up girls with charm instead of violence - or money I guess. Watch where you're walking next time - you almost ruined my breakfast and my skirt. This cost 2000 beli, you know!"

With that, Nami turned and flounced away. Sanji stared after her for a moment, outwardly dumbfounded and receiving a look of commiseration from an older man standing in a shop doorway nearby. The sunlight shining down on Nami highlighted the vibrant hue of her hair. He watched her leave sadly, inwardly processing the coded message she had given him.

Visit this evening. Bring the money agreed upon.

The rest of the day was spent acquiring ingredients and listening out for any relevant information but not asking questions as they had agreed before splitting up. It was important that the rest of the crew did not draw attention to themselves. Or rather, if they did then it couldn't be traced back to Kiyoko, the Blooming Orchid or the two crew members currently working there.

The best way to do that was to limit contact between them. For Zoro, that was easy. Part of the contract for any omega in any house like this one was that he was not allowed to leave without permission and an escort. He wasn't supposed to want to. The house provided him with room, board, clothing and protection and took those fees away from his wages. Going out required an additional escort fee and meant having a beta guard following his every move. For as long as he was under their contract, his body belonged to the house and they had a right to ensure he wasn't misusing it - or giving anything away for free.

Outside of whatever sporadic interaction he would have with Nami in reception, Zoro would have no contact with them unless they visited him - something that only Sanji and Luffy met the requirements to do, considering that the Blooming Orchid did not cater to alphas.

Nami, on the other hand, had much more freedom. In reception, she had a prime view of the the compound's main entrance. She could build a clearer picture of who was coming and going and when. She would not be allowed to mingle freely with the omegas of the house but she did have access to their schedules. In that position, she would have some control over who saw Zoro and when. She could protect him, Sanji had overheard her telling Zoro before they had both (separately) left the ship, but only so much.

She knew the way these places worked. She wasn't sure Zoro did.

Zoro had told her to focus on protecting herself. And while Sanji agreed with the sentiment of Nami's safety being top priority, the gruff tone of his voice when he had said it had been no way to treat a lady.

Her safety was why Nami was not staying on the ship. She had found suitable lodgings in the city close to the bakery and not far from the Blooming Orchid. She would go to the bakery every morning to pick up a croissant for breakfast and would give a coded message to one of them, updating them on the status of the plan and directing them on how to proceed. So far, apparently, so good.

That evening, Sanji followed Nami's directions for the letter, arriving at the Blooming Orchid at the time they had greed. Nami was sitting at the front desk next to a woman with blonde curls and red lipstick. _Exquisite,_ thought Sanji with a dreamy smile as the blonde goddess laughed at something Nami had said. Even so, the wonderful woman next to Nami was not his focus today - Nami was, so she was the one he approached.

He almost melted when she turned a sunny smile in his direction.

"Welcome to the Blooming Orchid, how may I help you today, sir?" asked Nami, in a voice that was far too bubbly and sweet.

Sanji's heart thumped in his chest, swelling with a slew of compliments that he was desperate to unleash upon her. But not yet. If he swooned over Nami now, however outstanding her beauty might have been, it would not be as believeable that he would chose to visit a shitty swordsman, who was Nami's exact opposite.

Ignoring the pain it gave him to keep his feelings bottled away, Sanji delivered the lines that Nami and Robin had given him, stating that he was looking for companionship of the omega kind.

Nami guided him through a portfolio that he had not realised would be this big. The building from the outside, though large did not seem to have as many rooms as there were omega faces staring up at him. Discomfort settled in the pit of Sanji's stomach as he turned pages as quickly as he could while still appearing interested, avoiding looking any of the omega pictures in the eye. He almost passed Zoro's over entirely.

It pained him to admit that the idiot was right; but without swords and with the way he had been dressed and posed, Zoro did not look like the man on the wanted posters - even if he wasn't looking at the camera in this photo either. Smug bastard.

"Excellent choice," said Nami, still smiling up at him. It eased some of his suffering. "Allow me to guide you to your room."

The deep crimson lips of the woman seated next to Nami parted as though she was about to protest but Nami shot her a look before taking Sanji by the arm.

"It's just through here," said Nami. "This place can be a maze when you don't know where you're going."

She didn't comment further as they walked, but Sanji watched the way her eyes darted around the corridors as traveled through them. Sanji realised very quickly that this building stretched back far further than he had first thought. The corridors twisted and turned strangely, having been planned either for the aesthetic or to create confusion but definitely not for ease of access. He built a mental map of the place as they walked, until a woman appeared around the corner.

She was a tall woman, wearing a long dress of rich red fabric. Her skin was smooth and pale, her dark hair pulled back into a loose bun, a few strands escaping and framing her face with curls. She was beautiful. She was also very noticeably pregnant.

Her eyes fell on Nami and widened. "Nami! Why are you away from the front desk?" Her voice was clearly supposed to sound gentle and admonishing, but there was a hint of real harshness to it that Sanji couldn't help but notice.

Nami maintained a polite smile. "Mori has a client. Since he is a new addition to our team, I thought he might not know his way around yet. It's no trouble at all."

The woman's dark blue eyes narrowed in response before her face smoothed to a more easy going smile. "Well, Nami, I am certain you are needed more at the front desk. I will escort this fine gentleman to Mori's room."

"Of course," said Nami, with a little bow. Sanji caught the frustration in her eyes as she turned. "I hope you have a pleasant stay with us. Please feel free to call down to reception if there is anything else we can provide."

"Thank you for help, Nami-san," Sanji replied.

She bowed again, this time to him, before she walked away, leaving Sanji alone with the dark-haired beauty before him. In spite of himself, he found his eyes lingering on her stomach.

The woman smiled. "Oh, I'm not an employee," she said, rubbing her bump. "I am the proprietor's wife. I like to be involved in the business."

"Ah," said Sanji, sheepishly looking away. "It is a pleasure to meet you, my lady."

The woman was still smiling. "And a pleasure to meet you as well. I hope you enjoy your visit." She stopped in front of a door and knocked twice in quick succession. "Please don't hesitate to contact us if there is anything you need... or desire."

With that, the woman gave him a nod and turned to leave at the exact moment that the door opened.

Sanji should have been prepared for the sight that greeted him in the doorway. He had seen Zoro's picture. He knew how they had dressed him. He had a fairly good understanding of how Zoro would be expected to react to his presence while the proprietor's wife was only a few feet away and clearly pausing to listen. But it was another thing entirely to actually experience it.

Zoro was dressed in a loose flowing robe, tied at the waist with a sash. His chest was exposed but decorated with a series of gold chains of all different lengths. This and what was most probably makeup of obscured the jagged scar that Sanji had watched heal on Zoro's chest. There were gold bangles on his wrists and ankles. He looked expensive, luxurious - not battle worn. He held the door open, other hand beckoning his guest in. Sanji was so shocked that he wasn't even subtle about examining him.

"So you're my guest for this evening?" he said in a tone that was both amused and oddly sultry.

Or perhaps that was simply the pheromones hitting Sanji in the face. He had never smelt Zoro like this before. The man had such good scent control that it was difficult to even notice that he was an omega if he wasn't in heat and you weren't looking for it. But this? This was excessive.

The scent wasn't right. It was almost like an omega-themed perfume.

"My name is Mori. Come in. May I take your jacket?"

The voice (since when had Zoro's voice ever been that smooth?) brought Sanji back to the present moment. A quick flick of the eyes to the side told him that the dark haired woman was still lingering down the corridor, having paused to rearrange the position of an orchid in an alcove. So Sanji inclined his read respectfully and gave the mosshead (who was currently the furthest thing from the mossy moron he knew) his name.

"Sanji," he said, holding out a hand for the other to shake. "Charmed."

Sanji noticed the way that Zoro's eyebrows started to rise and were then forcibly straightened out. On the other man's face was a small smile, mostly forced. Zoro regarded the hand for a brief second - too brief for Sanji to retract it - then placed his fingertips on top of it in a way that Sanji had seen many female omegas do in more formal settings.

Sanji's preferred response to this move would be to pull Zoro towards him, just to put him off balance, and kick him squarely in the chest. But there was only one way to respond in this particular setting. If he shook the hand, he would look uninterested or worse: uncultured and disrespectful.

 _Imagine this is Nami-swan or Robin-chan_ , he told himself as raised the hand that was too large and too calloused to be any delicate woman's hand towards his face. Inclining his head, he allowed his lips to brush Zoro's knuckles in a feather-light kiss, reminding himself to linger there for long enough that it didn't look as though the omega man (whose company he supposedly desired enough to actively pay for) had stung him.

As he did so, it hit him the way it had when Zoro had opened the door: his scent. Sanji knew, logically speaking, that a person's scent was strongest at the wrist and the neck. He knew that the custom of kissing an omega's hand existed to get the measure of their scent and ascertain compatibility. He knew that any ordinary omega would have some kind of reaction to a touch of that area and their scent therefore would be a little stronger, a little easier to detect.

But the scent of the room and the scent from Zoro's wrist were not the same. Was it some kind of omega-themed perfume? He found himself almost unintentionally running his thumb along the underside of the omega's wrist to make him release more of it. It was Zoro without the hint of steel - like a walk in the woods in early fall. The scent seemed to follow him as he pulled his face away, where it intermingled with the other scent in the air.

It hit Sanji the moment he released the swordsman's hand. Omega desire. That was the other scent. It was omega desire, but not Zoro's. They had perfumed the room to put his guests more in the mood. Had Sanji not been a chef and well practised with differentiating spices and ingredients by smell as well as taste, he might not have noticed the difference between the two. 

Zoro stepped back to allow him entry, closing the door with surprising grace and gentleness. It closed with a quiet click.

"Your coat?" the swordsman reminded mildly.

Sanji's curled eyebrow rose. The expression on Zoro's face was the same as it had been outside, his posture not submissive but not his usual calm confidence either. The enticing scent filling the room compelled Sanji to follow the omega's directions. He shrugged his jacket off his shoulders and handed it to the omega, noting the way that Zoro's eyes flicked to something behind him before lingering around Sanji's collar bones. He had left his top two buttons undone at the direction of Robin and now, despite the fact that Zoro's chest was practically bare, he felt oddly exposed.

Zoro took the jacket and hung it on a coat rack with the kind of care that the marimo never afforded to any possession of Sanji's.

"Can I offer you a drink?" said Zoro, crossing the room towards a unit which housed a variety of drinks and an overflowing fruit bowl.

The sentiment wasn't so unlike him but the tone was. "What wines do you have?" asked Sanji, narrowing his eyes as he regarded his crewmate.

"Red, white or rose?" Zoro responded, gesturing to the selction of bottles behind him.

Thinking back to the vaguest hint of blackberries from Zoro's wrist earlier, Sanji said with a slight smirk, "Red. Give me the youngest bottle - it pairs well with blackberries."

Zoro stiffened at this, camouflaging it by reaching up to the cabinet above the bottles and bringing out a wine glass. Sanji caught him using the reflection of the cabinet's glass door to look at something behing him again and resisted the urge to look that way himself. Zoro twisted each red wine bottle to read the label before selecting one and pulling the cork out with his teeth.

There it was: the marimo.

Leaning against the nearest chair, Sanji felt some of the tension begin to drain from his body as he snorted. "Classy, ma- _Mori-san._ "

That had been close. The recovery had him practically purring Zoro's fake name the way he would when referring to a beautiful lady.

Zoro turned his head, cork still between his teeth. His eyes widened, Sanji catching the vaguest hint of a wince from the man, whose shoulders lifted as he continued to pour the wine without actually looking at the glass.

That did it. Sanji's instincts, whether as a chef or otherwise, could not stand to watch. Before he had even thought about his next action, his feet had carried him across the room. His hand had closed around Zoro's on the wine bottle, his other arm reaching around the omega's waist to steady the wine glass that the classless fool was gripping by the stem.

"Let me show you the right way to do it," said Sanji, in a low voice.

As he spoke, he turned his head towards Zoro to address him properly, realising for the first time the proximity of their bodies. His words ghosted the side of Zoro's neck, which Sanji now realised was tilted ever so slightly to the side. Zoro shuddered, the motion making him lean back just enough that his back brushed against Sanji's chest. Red was beginning to colour his cheeks and the tips of his ears.

With the cork still between his teeth, it was almost cute.

Until his gaze once again flicked to the left, looking for something in that direction and Sanji's next breath in brought with it a wave of woodland and blackberries so intense that he reflexively closed the gap between them, grip tightening on Zoro's hands.

The omega in question twitched in his grasp, turning his head and his eyes back in Sanji's direction then looking immediately back down at the table.

Sanji released the hand holding the wine glass instantly, loosening his grip on the other one but not letting go. The hand he had freed travelled upwards, closing around the cork and giving it a careful tug as Sanji leaned even closer to almost whisper into Zoro's ear.

"Is this alright?"

Zoro shivered, this time allowing more of his body weight to rest against Sanji. His lips parted, the cork falling into Sanji's hand.

"Y-yeah," he breathed, then swallowed and added a little louder, "Show me how to do it."

Another wave of his scent seemed to hit Sanji as Zoro moved his head, making him want to pull the omega closer, wrap his free arm around him and press his face to the space between the other man's neck and shoulder. Then simply breathe him in and rest there.

But this was _Zoro_.

Sanji's hand shook and a drop of wine dripped from the top of the bottle. He dropped the cork on the unit and caught the droplet on his finger before it could fall. For a moment, both of them stared at the perfect red dome on the tip of Sanji's finger. Then Zoro's free hand closed around his wrist and guided the hand upwards. Almost in slow motion, his tongue darted out and licked the alcohol away.

Sanji's face burned. A startled sound escaped from his lips. Zoro smirked up at him before releasing his hand and Sanji either wanted to strangle him or.... _nothing_. Nothing else.

"Weren't you going to show me how to pour the wine?" he asked.

Sanji resisted the urge to grit his teeth togther. His hand was still hanging stupidly in front of Zoro's face even though the swordsman had already let it go. Two could play at this game. It wasn't Sanji's fault that Zoro's definitively omega scent mixed with whatever weird perfume hung in the air might be affecting him _just a little bit_.

Just when he was blinking, when he wasn't fully aware that it was _Zoro_ who smelt like this.

 _But of course he was,_ a darker part of his mind reminded him. How many times had he found himself resting against Zoro's upper arm on the rug in the men's room? How many times had he pressed his face into the sofa and relished the scent of forest freshness? What about those awful three days after Arlong park, when Zoro's heat had hit? When he had hurried past Nami's room so he wouldn't have to breathe in the enticing aroma of blackberry pie and arousal or worse, the undercurrent of fermenting fruit and distress? He had known it. He had smelt it. But he still hadn't wanted to attribute that to _Zoro._

All he had to do was pretend that Zoro was an actual omega, one he could imagine running delicate fingers through his hair, one he could envisage beckoning him into bed with a soft voice, one whose skin would be soft as he traced the curves of their body.

He brought his hand across, gently caressing the side of Zoro's face. With his eyes closed, the skin felt smooth. His fingers stroked along Zoro's strong jaw, the contrast between that shape and the feeling of his skin stark. His thumb brushed against the sensitive scent gland on the man's neck on its way back down to the wine glass. He was rewarded with another little shiver.

"Of course, _mon cher_ ," he said. "How does it feel knowing you're receiving lessons from a first class chef?"

Zoro raised an eyebrow. "I'll let you know after my first lesson."

_Touche._

Sanji lifted the wine glass and tilted it to the side. He still had not released his grip around Zoro's hand on the wine bottle, so as he lifted that, Zoro's arm was forced to move too. "It's important first to allow your guest to experience the wine you're offering them. Pour just a little bit in the bottom of the glass - like so."

He poured the wine and put it back down on the table. The swordsman's hand lingered for a moment longer on the bottle before it was retracted and Sanji reached around him to pick up the wine glass. Zoro turned to watch as Sanji swirled the wine around the glass and gave it an experimental sniff. He was right; it would pair excellently with summer fruits and blackberries. He offered the glass to Zoro.

"Here. Swirl it and smell it. You're supposed to waft the vapours up toward your nose before you taste."

Zoro did as directed. "It smells like red wine." He looked down at it longingly.

"The more you do it, the more you'll be able to differentiate between the different aromas," Sanji remarked as Zoro almost reluctantly offered the glass back. "Now, we taste." He took a swig of the wine, swirling it around his mouth in the way he had witnessed many affluent wine tasters do on board the Baratie. Then swallowed. It was a good enough wine, though not the best he'd ever had. "You're actually supposed to spit it back out in a proper wine tasting but when you're going to take it anyway, I find that a massive waste."

"Yeah," agreed Zoro, whose eyes had lingered on Sanji's lips while he had been drinking, dropped to his throat when he had swallowed and were now fixed firmly on the wine.

Sanji offered it to him. "It's your turn."

Zoro looked up at him, expression betraying something between surprise and alarm. "Oh no, I - I can't-"

"It's good. I insist," said Sanji, grabbing the floundering swordsman's hand and arranging it around the glass.

Again, Zoro's eyes flicked over to something else in the room. This time Sanji could see it was the table. He took the smallest sip Sanji had ever seen the man take of anything, immediately handing it back even though he could barely even have tasted it.

"It is good," he agreed mildly, eyes flicking back to the table yet again. "Would you like me to pour you a full glass?"

"No, no, _mon cher,_ " said Sanji, setting the glass back onto the side. Before Zoro could do anything else, Sanji took his hand, his other hand coming to rest in the small of the omega's back, and guided him forcibly towards the table and chairs. "Allow _me_ to serve _you_."

Zoro tensed. This close, it was impossible to miss the souring of the scent he was giving off, even with the other perfume to camouflage it.

Sanji pulled out a chair for him and pressed down on his shoulder to get him to sit, giving the shoulder a squeeze before going to pour two glasses of wine. Zoro was not a talkative man. He almost never initiated conversations between them unless he was itching to initiate a fight. But for some reason, the silence behind him was uncomfortable.

He hurried back and set the wine glass in front of Zoro with a flourish. "For you."

"Thank you," said Zoro in a voice that could almost be described as subdued.

He brought the wine glass to his lips but didn't drink, eyes darting to the orchid that sat in the middle of the table then immediately away. He set the glass back down on the table. Sanji sat down on the other side of the table, following Zoro's gaze to the orchid.

It was potted in a fancy pot with a red, black, white and gold design. The orchid itself was dark red with a yellowish hue towards the center. Sanji didn't see what about it was so concerning. Unless it was bugged. The room was obviously bugged in some way, or Zoro thought they might be being overheard from the outside. Otherwise, there would be no way he would behave this way towards Sanji.

Unless he was in heat.

Sanji's gaze slid across towards Zoro, who was now looking down into the wine glass. His face was still dusted with the blush from earlier but there was something thoughtful to his expression. Sanji scented the air. There was the strange perfume from earlier which smelled exactly how Sanji would expect an average omega would. It was eclipsed by the more familiar, more enjoyable scent of his crewmate: still woodland and blackberries but now with something sharper. He didn't smell the intensely sour distress he remembered from the man's last heat. Nor did he think there was the desperate arousal he would expect if Zoro _was_ coming into heat.

How often did he have them anyway? Surely he wouldn't be stupid enough to agree to this knowing he had one due?

The answer to the question didn't come because at that very moment, the orchid seemed to move. Except it wasn't an orchid. It was large moth with eyes on its wings. Sanji shrieked, jumping up out of his chair. His knee hit the table in his mad scramble away from it, knocking his wine into his lap. Zoro started, his arm shooting out to save his glass before it could meet the same fate. Sanji picked up the coaster and flung it at the moth.

Somehow, the moth avoided it, flying up to the ceiling and settling there. Cold wine dripped down Sanji's leg.

"You don't like bugs then," said Zoro with genuine surprise, followed by amusement. He punctuated the comment with a single slow sip of the wine which he seemed to savour more than Sanji's suffering.

So he didn't have to watch, Sanji retrieved the coaster and flung it up to hit the moth again.

The piece of light-obsessed garbage somehow dodged.

"No," snapped Sanji, face red with embarrassment. " _Who does_?"

Zoro looked at him oddly, shifting in his seat. "My boss," he said pointedly. "He likes them. They're his pets. I don't think he'd like it if you killed one. He likes their eyes. I've been told they like the orchids and are used decoratively in every room."

 _Eyes, huh?_ That explained some of Zoro's strange behaviour at least. The most ironic yet fitting source of the bugging.

Sanji pulled a face. "Is that the only one?"

"Yes," said Zoro, the certainty making him sound more like himself than he had all evening. "It will probably stay up there out of your way."

Sanji picked up the chair he had knocked over, keeping his eyes on the moth above him. Like Zoro said, it remained still. Sanji looked at it, heart beating a little too quickly. His muscles tensed, ready to jump back if he needed to and he willed himself to calm down, to not display his weakness so openly to Zoro. To Zoro and whoever was watching apparently through a moth of all things. A literal bug. Bugged by a bug in every way.

He shook his head, taking a deep breath in through the nose. The scent of baking blackberry pie filled his nostrils and lingered in the back of his throat. Almost against his will, his tension started to melt away. With it came the sudden awareness that his crotch and his legs were wet and sticky.

"Shit," said Sanji, looking down at his sodden and stained pants. His shirt looked to have escaped but judging from the wetness of his crotch, Sanji doubted that was the case for the piece that was tucked in. And red wine _stained_ too. "I should change."

Was it late enough that if he left, Zoro would not receive another customer?

Zoro got up and disappeared through an open archway, returning with a fluffy cream-coloured towel. Sanji held out a hand to stop him coming any closer. "Red wine stains - you'll stain that."

Zoro gave him a look at simply said, 'So?' Then sighed and said, "I wouldn't be a very good host if I let my guest sit around in wet clothes."

"No," said Sanji slowly, wondering what the other man was thinking.

Zoro tossed the towel onto the chair he had been sitting on. His gaze darted up to check on the moth as he did so and when he looked back towards Sanji, his expression had shifted from thoughtful to determined. The steps he took towards Sanji were slow and deliberate. He stopped a half-step too far into Sanji's personal space. "Why don't we take a bath together?"

"There aren't any moths in the bathroom, are there?" asked Sanji.

Zoro shook his head, raising both hands and resting them on Sanji's chest then walking the fingers down to his top button. "They don't like the steam and I like my baths _hot._ "

His hand paused there, tapping against the button while he awaited Sanji's response. His blackberry scent hung in the air around them with undertones of something not quite ripe. Sanji locked eyes with him and Zoro's, while slightly apprehensive, urged him to play along.

_Imagine the person this scent should come with._

Putting on a show to get some privacy. That was something Sanji could do.

Toying with the chains around the omega's neck, Sanji pulled him in closer and replied, "What a coincidence - so do I."

"Perfect," said Zoro, popping Sanji's first button undone.

He fumbled with the next one. For a brief moment, Sanji's brain also fumbled with his next move. Because this was _Zoro_ taking his clothes off. Neither of them was injured. None of the associated bickering filled the air. There was only Zoro's too thick scent and a general approximation of omega desire in the form of perfume in the air. And Zoro's warm hands taking his shirt off with none of the finesse he would expect from an omega supposedly trained and paid for the art of pleasure.

Because it was Zoro, who had never shown any interest in anything like this - or anyone for that matter. And this was the point at which the usually unflappable swordsman seemed out of his depth.

Sanji wasn't. If this was a lady, Sanji would know exactly how to behave. If this was a pretty omega woman with a kind face and gentle but inexperienced hands, Sanji would know exactly how to take the lead without being too controlling. If this was _real_ , he would know exactly how to put his partner at ease, how to make them feel good.

But it was _Zoro_.

On the other hand, it was also an act. And Nami was counting on him. Robin too. And the others. And the girl, Kiyoko, was depending on this moss-haired idiot to find her and the rest of them to support him to set her free.

 _For the ladies,_ Sanji thought. And took control.

He brought his hand up to cup Zoro's cheek, the omega surprising him when he pressed his face further into it. His other arm found the swordsman's surprisingly slim waist and rested there as he turned and pressed his lips to the space behind Zoro's ear. He felt rather than saw Zoro's breath hitch as he kissed the sensitive skin where his scent gland was. He paused to suck lightly at it, feeling a shudder roll down Zoro's body as he released a shaky sigh.

At that point, Sanji noticed that the omega's hands had stilled.

"I thought you were helping me take off my clothes," he teased.

"It's a bit difficult when you're doing... that," said Zoro breathlessly. "I could rip them off you if you'd prefer."

 _No, thank you,_ was Sanji's reaction to that. His clothes were not cheap tat to be treated like rags. But he couldn't say that because it would ruin the mood. Zoro was already ruining the mood by sounding like Zoro and Sanji was good but he was not _that_ good. So instead he laughed into the space between Zoro's neck and shoulder, putting aside for a moment the identity of his suitor to relish the sudden increased sweetness seeping from his skin.

"I'd prefer it if you didn't."

He let his hand travel downwards to hold the omega's hips, pushing him backwards towards the archway and the bathroom beyond it. Zoro stumbled the first step then allowed himself to be steered obediently, more focussed on the buttons of Sanji's shirt.

"Better?" said Zoro, as he undid the last, wine-soaked button, bringing his sticky fingers to his lips and licking the remnants of the wine away.

Sanji released him to shrug his shirt off his shoulders. It fell to the floor and as it did, Sanji noticed the moth fly down from the ceiling. He froze in place, preparing to react, but it swiftly settled on the wall opposite the doorway to the bathroom. Now he had noticed them, the eyes on the wings were obvious even with the dim lighting of the room.

Zoro pulled at his belt, tugging him towards him and into the bathroom. He undid the belt in one fluid motion, stepping in close to say, "Don't think about it." Whether he was referring to the moth that seemed to have moved to get a better view or what they were doing was open to interpretation and required more thought than Sanji was capable of right now.

Without pulling back, Sanji groped behind him for the door to close it while Zoro undid the button on his pants. His fingers closed only around air. With a low growl, he turned to grab it. Only to realise that there was no door. It was a plain open archway. From the other side of the room, the eyes had a clear view of the two of them and the large tiled bath behind Zoro. This privacy was a lie.

_Shit._

One hand on either size of his now unzipped pants, Zoro pulled Sanji further into the room. Sanji had not known it was possible for the swordsman to wear such a vibrant blush. It was almost at odds with the serious expression on his face. He gave a slight but obviously deliberate nod then reached around the back of Sanji's pants, slipping them down over his hips and letting them drop to his ankles. 

Sanji toed off his shoes and stepped out of them, his heart pounding in his chest.

Then Zoro's hands were cupping his buttcheeks and squeezing and only the omega's lips suddenly crashing against his in a clumsy kiss muffled the squeak of surprise that left him. It reminded Sanji that Zoro was rough and unrefined. It also reminded him how warm he was, how incredible his scent was when it overtook Sanji's senses, how well defined the muscles of his back were as Sanji ran his hands down it, scratching lightly along the side of his spine. 

He took control, holding the omega's body firmly against his, tilting his head to the side to deepen the kiss. A low noise escaped Zoro at that, Sanji feeling the shiver roll down his back as his earlier tension began to fade, as he melted in Sanji's arms.

Sanji broke the kiss, leaving a new trail of kisses along his jawline before turning his attention back to the side of the omega's throat, where his scent gland was. He bit softly at it, rolling the tender flesh between his teeth, careful not to break the skin. The omega gave a breathy moan and Sanji planted one more kiss firmly to the area he'd been teasing before letting it go, heat pooling in a certain area of his body.

As he pulled back, Zoro followed him, dropping his forehead onto Sanji's shoulder.

"Do you want-" he began. Sanji felt him swallow, taking in a shaky breath. His thumbs hooked into the waistband of Sanji's boxers. "Should I take these off?"

Sanji's dick twitched at the possibility of being released from its cloth prison - and the proximity of warm hands hovering above it. The stickiness of the wine was now almost appealling, reminding him of another type of slickness. But the scent coming off Zoro in waves had undertones so sweet it was almost sickly, like that same blackberry pie but with sourer fruits like raspberries added in. The swordsman was uncertain.

"Do you want to?" Sanji asked. It was a serious question and yet the interest piquing in his body made his voice low and husky.

Zoro's response was a breathy whisper. His nose brushed Sanji's collar bone. "You're the- You're captain on this ship. Whatever you want, I have to do it. But I need..." He took another shaky breath in.

Sanji's arms reflexively tighened around him. He placed and instinctive kiss on top of his head. "What do you need?"

"I need... to do something... for you," he breathed.

Sanji stroked down his back, then back up, resting his cheek against Zoro's head. He dropped his voice to match the omega's, speaking into Zoro's hair. "Not if you don't want to."

He felt Zoro nod against his bare skin. "Mm," he said. "Need to."

"What if I just want to take a bath with a beautiful omega?" Sanji practically purred.

Zoro's hands tightened on top of Sanji's butt, his nails digging in slightly before releasing. Muscles that had been relaxed now tensed again. The sour raspberry tang started to overwhelm the blackberry sweetness. Zoro lifted his head, echoing Sanji's earlier actions and placing a single stiff kiss between his collar bones. "Not enough, needs to be more."

Sanji continued to stroke down his back. "What do you want? Whatever you want... is fine."

"I want to taste more of that wine," mumbled Zoro.

Sanji pulled back, holding Zoro by the shoulders. "I'll get some for you," he said. Anything to get rid of that sour scent and bring back the enticing one from earlier. Anything to ease some of that weird tension in the omega's body.

Zoro caught him by the wrist before he could leave. "No," he said. "Don't." There was something uncertain in the way he closed the gap between them that Sanji didn't like. "There's- there's a better way I could taste it."

_Oh._

With that, he brought their lips back together, kissing Sanji almost feverishly. One of his hands hooked into the waistline of Sanji's boxers and pulled their bodies together. Sanji slipped his hands inside Zoro's robe pushing it back off his shoulders to expose more skin, upon which he rubbed comforting circles.

He let Zoro control the kiss until the frantic nature of the omega's motions calmed. As they did, he started to stroke the sensitive skin of his neck. Like before, Zoro practically melted under his ministrations, the sweetness of his scent betraying his arousal. Both of his hands came to rest against Sanji's waistband. When he broke the kiss to take a shuddering breath, Sanji replaced his fingers with his lips, turning the attention of his hands to the omega's ample chest and giving one of his nipples an experimental tweak.

This elicited another delicious sound from the omega. Whether there was enough thought present for it to be considered vengeance or not, he yanked Sanji's wine-stained boxers down to his thighs.

Sanji shuddered as his erection came free. He sucked at Zoro's scent gland for long enough to that the omega made another stifled whimper before pulling back to shove his boxers down the rest of the way, kicking them aside and into the other room.

When he turned back to return to his previous position, Zoro sank down to his knees.

"Should-" he panted. "Should I show you another way I can taste?"

A surge of want flooded through Sanji as he regarded the omega with half-lidded eyes. It shouldn't. The omega kneeling on the ground with his legs slightly parted, lips swollen and reddened where Sanji had kissed and nipped at them was not at all his type. He shouldn't want this.

"Do you want to?" he asked again.

The sweet scent of desire hung heavily in the air.

"Do you want me to?" Zoro replied, eyes flicking from Sanji to his cock.

The traitor twitched as he looked, precum already beading at the tip. Sanji shouldn't want this. But he did.

"Only if you want to."

Zoro leaned up, cupping Sanji's balls with one hand then running his finger along the underside of his penis. He ignored the way it jumped up from his hand, eyes fixed on Sanji's, silently asking for permission.

"I can show you how I handle a sword with my mouth," said Zoro.

Sanji sort of wanted to punch him for ruining the mood with his stupid joke, but the sudden increase to the heat of his body disagreed. "Then stop talking and show me," he said.

Without further preamble, Zoro used one hand to guide the tip of Sanji's dick into his mouth, teasing the slit with his tongue as his other hand gripped Sanji's ass to steady him. He sucked slowly at it, making Sanji whine through his teeth, burying his hands in Zoro's hair. It took all his self control not to let his hips buck into Zoro's mouth as the omega's teeth scraped gently down his shaft. He wanted more. He wanted to push on Zoro's head until he was fully enveloped in the warm wetness of his mouth.

As if hearing his thoughts, Zoro took all of him in, making him shudder through a wave of pleasure.

"Tastes like red wine," remarked Zoro in a sultry tone, his voice vibrating through Sanji's dick and making him moan shamelessly. He knew Zoro could hold an entire conversation with the hilt of a sword between his teeth but this... it sounded stupid but it felt incredible. He wanted more but all his voice could do was moan.

Both of Zoro's hands found his ass, half supporting him as he struggled to maintain his manners and not thrust wildly in response to Zoro's tongue and teeth and heat.Thanks to the combination of Zoro's sinful tongue and the fingernails scraping at his skin, it took far less time than expected before Sanji was tugging at Zoro's hair in alarm to pull his face away before he came.

The omega ignored Sanji's hands and didn't move. In fact, he pushed forwards, pressing his nose to Sanji's pubic hair as the white-hot pleasure overcame Sanji and his legs almost deposited him on the bathroom floor. He felt the omega swallow multiple times in quick succession, opening his eyes in spite of the sparks in front of them just in time to see him finally pull back, still sucking the last white drops from his tip.

A trail of it dribbled down his chin from the corner of his mouth. It looked weirdly hot. Sanji found himself reaching down to stroke the omega's face.

"That was..." Sanji began but stopped, not wanting to even think about what that was.

Mind blowing. The most pleasurable experience of this year at least. Given to him by a man he could barely believe was even an omega.

A man he now just wanted to take into his arms and breathe in the scent of. A man, whom, for reasons unknown to him, he now just desperately wanted to cuddle.

"I told you I was good with my mouth," panted Zoro, pushing himself to his feet.

As he did so, his hands hands stroked Sanji's sensitive skin and Sanji automatically dropped his head onto the omega's shoulder. "Yeah," he agreed like the shaking of his legs didn't give that one away.

"Do you want to take a bath with me?" Zoro almost whispered in his ear.

"Yeah," Sanji responded breathlessly.

Zoro pulled his sash undone in one fluid motion - a motion that Sanji absolutely did not stare at - dropping his robe onto the ground. Sanji did not look at his butt either, did not notice how shapely it was or consider how his usual clothing choices didn't do it justice. He was not oddly surprised when Zoro hopped into the oversized bath and turned the taps to full, filling the room with the roaring of water. Nor did he accept the hand that was offered to him to help him enter the bath as well. He definitely was not that blissed out.

Almost as an afterthought, once they were both settled in the filling bath, Zoro removed the gold chains from around his neck. Then he guided Sanji to the space between the two taps and straddled him, legs either side of his lap.

That brought both Sanji and little Sanji back to attention. "Z-Ma- _Mori-san_ ," he stuttered as Zoro leaned closer, his nose almost brushing against Sanji's. Something else, something a lot harder and larger poked Sanji in the stomach.

A chaste kiss was pressed to his lips, followed by another. Sanji's hands found muscular thighs and began to trail upwards.The omega shuddered, another wave of that enticing scent emanating from his neck and overcutting the scented soaps around them.

Between kisses, Zoro whispered to him, "Now we can talk. If we're subtle about it and it and that thing can't see our lips."

Right, yes, talking. The reason he was here. Sanji could do that. He gripped Zoro's thighs tightly to ground himself. Zoro surprised both of them when the action made made him give a little moan.

"That didn't sound like talking," Sanji teased, kneading at the flesh under his hands.

He felt the sudden urge to let his hands wander up and around, to grab and handful of Zoro's ass and squeeze it hard enough that he would make that sound again. The motion would pull him closer, so close that their erections would press together. Then he could grind his hips upwards and-

Zoro's teeth nipped at his ear a little too hard. "Did you hear anything I said?"

Sanji's hands had somehow found their way to his ass. "It's sort of hard to concentrate when you're _sitting on me_ and you smell so damn good."

"I'm not sitting on you. I'm holding my own weight," Zoro replied. " _This_ would be sitting."

Without further warning, Zoro sat. The water that had started to fill the bath splashed outwards, some of it striking both of them across the chest. Zoro's weight dropped down into Sanji's lap, striking his over-sensitive penis and squashing his balls. Sanji automatically doubled over, a pained wheeze escaping him, as he accidentally headbutted Zoro in the shoulder.

"See?" said Zoro smugly, his voice vibrating in Sanji's ears.

Mind clearer than it had been all evening, Sanji shoved him off his lap, preparing to shoot an appropriate insult and then a kick into the marimo's face.

Zoro fell back into the bath with a large splash, his entire body exposed to Sanji's eyes. Water rushed back in over his tanned skin, highlighting every perfectly defined muscle of his abs and his chest and drawing attention to the main area Sanji's hands had not explored yet: his erection. The insult died in Sanji's throat.

On the wall, through the archway that was visible above Zoro's head, the moth's wings fluttered.

 _Shit_. He had almost blown their cover.

Without pause for thought, he crawled over to where Zoro was beginning to sit up, pushing him back down with one hand to the chest. His legs came to rest between the omega's his knees forcing Zoro's to part wider. Shock crossed the marimo's face as Sanji leaned over him, a forced smirk on his own. Just while that stupid moth could see his face.

"Sorry," he whispered into Zoro's ear, before taking the tip of it into his mouth.

Zoro's entire body tensed. He didn't move. He didn't breathe. A scent Sanji wished he didn't recognise filled his nose. Sour raspberries, fermenting fruit. Distress.

Sanji stopped. "Are you okay?" he said softly into the omega's ear.

"Mm," grunted Zoro.

This low in the bath and with Sanji's body covering most of his, his face would not be visible to the moth. And it was a good thing that it wasn't. His eyes were screwed shut, his expression strained.

"Marimo?" Sanji prompted, stroking the side of his face.

Zoro took a deep breath in through his nose. "Yeah," he said, opening his eyes.

"Do you want me to move?"

Zoro didn't say anything. He turned his head in the opposite direction to the side Sanji's face had occupied, exposing his neck in an uncharacteristic show of submission. His body squirmed slightly underneath him. It hit Sanji with more force than he'd hit Zoro with earlier: the swordsman didn't like to be pinned.

Filing that away under the category of 'things they should discuss later but never actually would', he hooked an arm around Zoro's shoulders and pulled him upright, settling him back into his lap, in a similar position to the one they had been in earlier.

"Better?" he whispered into Zoro's ear, pressing a kiss to the side of his neck to camouflage his words.

Again, Zoro didn't say anything. Sanji wrapped his arms around the omega's waist, resting his head on his shoulder as he held him. He stroked the smooth skin of his back, pressing periodic kisses into his shoulder and rubbing his cheek lightly against the side of Zoro's neck. Slowly, the sour scent began to abate. The bathwater reached their navels.

Zoro leaned forwards as Sanji leaned back, resting his forehead against Sanji's collarbone.

"They have her," he said quietly, finally. "I haven't seen her yet but they definitely have her."

Sanji planted a kiss in the marimo's hair to show he had heard.

"They're using her power on some of the omegas here. Don't know what else for. I'll keep looking around." His tone was tired.

Sanji held him a little tighter, leaning back into the water. "Are you okay to stay like this?" Sanji asked.

_Are you alright to stay here?_

"Yeah," said Zoro. "I'm fine."

Not for the first time, Sanji was not entirely sure he believed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Next chapter will be the first Luffy chapter of the fic.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Luffy is having an unusually prickly day and doesn't quite understand why.
> 
> Visiting Zoro doesn't make it make sense but it does bring something to light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Wow, Hope, I didn't think you were ever gonna update this one!"
> 
> In my original plan for this fic, I intended for each chapter to span roughly one day of the story and be told from one character's POV. I really struggled fitting everything into Luffy's chapter. This chapter hit 15k words before I cut it down. We're also now reaching a part in the plot in which a lot is happening to different characters in a day so the plan for presenting this must change.
> 
> Next chapter will be a Zoro chapter. After that, I'll be either switching POV as I switch sections within chapters or releasing shorter chapters but hopefully more frequently. Let me know in the comments if you have a preference!
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter - it turned out a lot longer than I had anticipated. If you're here more for Zoro and Luffy in the Blooming Orchid and less for crew interactions and the rescue plot then please feel free to skip the first couple of sections. I'm not sure how many Luffy sections I'll include in the future. I think I'm better at writing him from other's perspectives. Though I promise you, his unusual irritability in this chapter does have a cause... And so does Zoro's behaviour.
> 
> Also, before I end this incredibly long author's note, the wonderful junonboi did some fantastic fanart for this fic which can be found on their tumblr with the same username. I love it and my day was made <3

The ideal number of people to have on a pirate crew was ten, Luffy had decided long ago. He wasn't against one or two more if they were the right people. But his understanding of becoming the pirate king was being the most free man sailing the ocean and seeing everything it had to offer. His nakama were part of that. His crew wasn't just an assortment of people with skills that could help a man sail a pirate ship around the world; they were _his_ people. They were the people he had chosen to share his adventure with and to share theirs with him.

They were his nakama. They were important. He loved them all.

They were also all their own distinct people, who had their own goals, their own dreams and could do their own thing from time to time. Just because they were nakama didn't mean they had to share everything together all of the time. So Luffy was used to having only one or two of his nakama around him at any given time. He was also used to rocketing off on his own, safe in the knowledge that they'd catch up to each other eventually. And they _would_ catch up to each other eventually. Zoro and Nami were coming back. Sanji would be back soon as well.

But it did feel kind of weird knowing that they weren't on the ship at all. That they weren't even close by. That he couldn't get to them immediately even if he wanted to, not without having to beat a lot of people up, some of whom probably didn't deserve to be beaten up. It made him feel itchy on the inside.

The first night this feeling hadn't been quite so strong. Nami and Robin slept separately to the men anyway and Zoro always came to bed so late that it was nearly morning by the time he settled either in an empty hammock or the rug on the floor. It wasn't so unusual for Zoro not to be in the room when Luffy fell asleep. And his scent still lingered subtly in the areas he slept, on the clothes he'd left on the couch, from the pile of everyone's laundry that Sanji kept telling them they needed to create a better system for. So it didn't feel too off.

But the scent was fading now. Zoro didn't release much of it when he was awake anyway and he didn't sleep for very long either so it wasn't surprising that it very quickly started to fade and be overtaken by everybody else's scents. And Sanji's cigarettes.

Sanji had smoked so many cigarettes. It didn't normally get to Luffy. Really, he didn't care. Nobody did. But it was all he could smell. It was eclipsing the lingering reminders of Zoro's and Nami's presences on the ship. And that was starting to get to him. Every time he had seen the cook flick his ash away, he'd started to get the urge to stretch out a hand and slap it away from his face. It was making him feel _prickly_.

He didn't like it when that happened. It wasn't who he was as a person. It was probably good that Sanji had left to visit Zoro for a bit, though that made him feel prickly too.

Maybe waiting just wasn't his thing. Scratch that, waiting was definitely not his thing.

Also, the fish weren't biting and that was also annoying, even though it was night time and the ship was docked so Usopp had been quite certain that nobody would be catching anything good. Luffy had wanted to prove they could.

"Tch," he bit the inside of his mouth, pulling his line back in and startling Chopper awake.

"Did you get one?" asked the reindeer with a half-covered yawn. 

They had decided between them to stay awake to wait for Sanji to come back. But Sanji was late.

"No," said Luffy, pulling the bait off the hook and eating it himself. It was soggy and salty. He wished Sanji would hurry up and come back.

Deciding that if he had to sit here for a moment longer and not catch a fish, he might actually die, Luffy put his fishing rod to the side and stood. "Wanna go see what Robin's doing?"

Chopper blinked his eyes back open. "Yeah!" 

Luffy waited for Chopper to sort his own fishing rod out, looking out into the town for signs of life. There seemed to be a couple of people skulking around but nobody doing anything interesting and no Sanji in sight.

Once Chopper was done, he scooped the reindeer up under one arm and extended the other, pulling them both up to the crow's nest. He dropped Chopper over the side, dangling over the edge until the little doctor moved over to Robin and made space for him to hop in.

Robin simply offered them a small smile. "Unable to sleep?"

Chopper yawned as Luffy landed in the crow's nest. "We're waiting up for Sanji."

"Oh?" said Robin, inserting a bookmark into her book.

Luffy had been about to ask what she was reading when he noticed instead what she was wearing. Robin sat with her elbow resting on the edge of the crow's nest, a very familiar black and white patterned piece of fabric draped over her shoulders like a makeshift blanket. It was Zoro's from the Alabasta desert.

The breeze this high up was crisp with no protection from surrounding buildings or larger ships to stop the cold wind blowing through. Usopp had sat huddled in Zoro's jacket only a couple of days ago. Zoro had witnessed it and not cared in the slightest. The swordsman hadn't even brought it down. The next night, he'd sat up there with Chopper and it had been arranged to cover both of them. This was obviously what Zoro intended for it to be used for.

But Robin was wearing Zoro's clothes and for some reason it bothered him.

It shouldn't do. Robin was nakama. Luffy liked Robin. She was calm and smart and could use her devil fruit powers in brilliant and endlessly entertaining ways. She fitted well into their group. He wanted to share his adventure with her.

He did not want to share Zoro's clothes with her.

Robin raised an eyebrow slightly in his direction and pulled the fabric off her shoulders, dropping it over Chopper's head. Two of her hands sprouted from the side of the crow's nest and tickled Chopper as he struggled to extricate himself from the fabric. Tension Luffy didn't know he'd collected started to drain from his shoulders, leaving him with only the urge to join in the tickling himself.

Between the two of them, Chopper howled with laughter, crying out for mercy until eventually he spilled out of the bottom of Zoro's robe and scrambled to the other side of the crow's nest, panting heavily. Not that this put him out of tickle range for either Luffy or Robin.

"No more, no more!" he gasped, as Luffy's hand stretched towards him.

"What do you think, Sencho-san?" said Robin, turning her face towards Luffy, amusement clear in her eyes.

"Hmmm," mused Luffy, wiggling his fingers threateningly.

"Noooo," whined Chopper.

"Okay, I’ll stop," said Luffy, turning to face Robin. He gathered Zoro's robe off the floor, placing it in his own lap but not wearing it. The fabric was soft under his fingers. He wanted to press his face into it but Robin and Chopper were both looking at him like he had more to say so he had to find something to say to them instead. "What'cha reading, Robin?"

Robin ran her finger down the spine of the book. "Oh just a selection of ghost stories based on the Florian Triangle."

"Ghost stories?" echoed Chopper at the same time that Luffy said, "Ooooh! Are they good?"

"Yes," Robin replied, first to Chopper then to Luffy, "some are quite compelling."

"Wanna read them to us?" asked Luffy.

"If you want to hear them," Robin responded, looking from Luffy to Chopper, who did not look sure at all.

"Yep!" said Luffy, crossing his legs and turning to face her to show that she had his undivided attention.

"They're just stories, right?" asked Chopper. "I mean, not that I doubt that at all or anything, but they're not real?"

"All stories are based on a grain of truth," said Robin, opening the book and leafing through the pages until she found an entry she thought would be good to share with them. "But this book is labelled as fiction, so take that as you will."

In spite of the suspenseful stories being shared, Robin's voice lulled Chopper to sleep within two tales. They left the little reindeer curled between the two of them, Zoro's robe spread out over him and Luffy's bare legs. But as Luffy's own eyes began to droop, Robin set the book down and held one finger to her lips in a clear suggestion to keep quiet.

Luffy looked at her quizzically, but instead of explaining, she simply summoned an extra hand to slowly remove the makeshift blanket from the doctor. From there, more hands sprung from the floor and over the side of the crow's nest, creating a track of limbs that lead down to the men's room. Silently, Robin passed Chopper from set to set until he was placed inside the room, only moving to get a better view of the inside once the hatch was opened. Luffy privately wondered how fast Robin could roll a ball doing that and made a mental note to find out some day, maybe tomorrow.

"One more story?" he asked her, once Chopper was safely situated on the sofa.

Robin sent him an indecipherable look, which she held for a moment before answering, "Perhaps when I return from the bathroom."

She didn't return. And neither did Sanji. Instead, Luffy wrapped Zoro's robe around him; breathed in the familiar intermingled scents of his nakama; closed his eyes to better appreciate them and then knew nothing else until morning.

-

It was late when Luffy woke up, significantly later than breakfast. Awareness came slowly. Sunlight shone through the black and white stripes covering his face. The fabric shielding him from the brunt of it was soft and smelled like home, this home, his nakama. The boards of the Merry's crow's nest were firm against his back. The sounds of the ocean were music to his ears.

His stomach growled furiously and with that unwelcome noise came the unwelcome realisation that he was hungry. That he'd fallen asleep in the crow's nest. That nobody had come to get him for breakfast. He felt _prickly_. Distraction and food required, immediately.

At the exact moment that Luffy decided to fling himself in the direction of food, Usopp stepped out of the lounge/kitchen/meeting room. They collided in a tangle of limbs, rolling back through the door until Luffy's back hit something that felt suspiciously like it was made of Robin and bounced off.

"Oi, watch it!" snapped Sanji, on his way to the table. Piled along his arms was a selection of breakfasty dishes, which he set down in the center of the table.

Luffy extricated himself from the groaning Usopp and rocketed over to the table, sitting down next to Chopper. There was no empty plate in front of him yet but that didn't matter; he could eat with his hands.

When he tried, Sanji's foot slammed his arm down, making him miss his intended target. "Ladies first, shithead. Wait until I say you can eat."

Luffy bristled at that. He shouldn't; Sanji always insisted that the women of the crew ate first. Luffy came after them, then Chopper, then Usopp and Zoro. The chef enforced this order with an iron foot, always had. And while he usually whined about it, he didn't go against that routine because Sanji provided the meals and this was his domain.

But he really wanted to launch himself across the table and snatch the plate out of Sanji's hands.

"But I didn't get breakfast and I'm hungry," he whined instead, dropping his head down onto the table like his neck had no strength left to support it.

That was right. He was only feeling this way because he was hungry. He was 'hangry', Ace would say. But Ace wouldn't have stopped him shovelling food into his face like a feral beast either so...

Usopp settled on Luffy's other side, rubbing his nose and grumbling. "Nobody did. Sanji got back late and he had to meet Nami this morning. And _you_ ate what was left in the icebox for us last night."

Sanji stiffened, pausing in the process of serving a platter to Robin. The historian waited patiently. It wasn't unusual for Sanji to be mad at him for raiding the icebox (even though this time the food had been left there for him to take, maybe not _just_ him, but definitely he was included. It wasn't his fault that the others weren't up for a midnight snack). But this time Sanji wasn't looking at him, wasn't that kind of mad at all.

Chopper added, "We're having brunch!"

"Thank you, Cook-san," said Robin very deliberately as Sanji set her food in front of her. "It looks wonderful."

Luffy kept his eyes on Sanji, even as Chopper started to tell Usopp about last night's stories and Usopp launched into a ghost story of his own. Sanji responded to Robin as he normally would but there was something off about the way he stood calmly behind her chair. He returned quickly with three empty plates, setting one in front of each of the rest of the crew. Instead of getting a plate for himself, he lit up another cigarette and went back towards the icebox. The air was already hazy and stale.

Luffy wasted no time in serving himself. He was already hangry and Sanji's cigarettes were making the prickly discomfort worse. But he didn't dig in with his usual voracity. He stuffed only three hunks of meat into his mouth before pausing momentarily to speak.

"Sanji," he said, and waited for the cook to turn and meet his eyes.

"Eat what's there first," said Sanji without the usual bite. He didn't turn from the counter, where he was chopping strawberries.

"Sanji," repeated Luffy, this time with intent. "Food."

"I said, eat what you've got. There's more than enough for seconds," said Sanji.

Robin intervened. "I believe what our captain is trying to say is that you should sit down and have brunch with us."

She paused. Sanji paused as well, knife held somewhat unsteadily above a strawberry. There was something apprehensive about the set of his shoulders.

In a tone that reminded Luffy of Nami, Robin continued, "I think we would all enjoy the meal much more if you joined us."

"Yes, Robin-chwan!" Sanji replied, predictably twirling over to the table.

Robin patted the seat beside her, a set of her hands reaching across the room to pass him a spare plate, since he hadn't thought to bring one over himself. As it was set in front of him, he thanked her profusely but Luffy was certain he didn't imagine the way Sanji looked at that plate before he did so.

It wasn't until they had eaten and Sanji stood to return to the strawberries that _that_ conversation began.

"While we're all here, it might be prudent to discuss what happened last night," said Robin, before Sanji could move away.

He paused mid step, fishing his cigarettes out of his pocket and lighting up another before turning around. It took him two tries to light it. Luffy watched him intently, but when he finally leaned against the counter to regard them, he didn't meet anybody's gaze.

For a moment, nobody said anything but everybody's attention was on Sanji. Sanji only exhaled a puff of smoke and took a deep drag of the cigarette between his lips.

"Sanji," asked Luffy. "What happened last night?"

Sanji's eyes widened. His breath caught in his throat, the smoke that outlined it faltering.

Into that briefest of pauses, Usopp cut in: "Is everything alright?"

Chopper added, "Are Zoro and Nami alright?"

"Yeah," Sanji said quickly. Then grimaced. "They're - they're alright. The plan is mostly going as we expected. Marimo confirmed they have Kiyoko-chan. Another omega told him they're using her powers to reward the employees there. He's seen proof she's been there. They're probably using her for other things too. Might be worth poking around town to see if any unusual kintsugi has been popping up."

Robin nodded. "I can take a walk this afternoon."

Sanji took another drag of his cigarette. Luffy frowned, opening his mouth to ask what it was that Sanji wasn't sharing with him, what it was that was so obviously wrong. But the chef continued, his words forming shapes in the smoke.

"There's only one problem. The mosshead's room is bugged." The words were addressed more to Robin than to anybody else.

Again, the prickly feeling rose under Luffy's skin. He was the captain, not Robin. Even though logically he knew that she definitely had more experience with secret organisations and things being bugged than anybody else here.

She raised an eyebrow. "I see. Yet you managed to bypass that to receive that information. Or did the two of you communicate in code?"

Sanji looked sharply away. "It's probably a devil fruit power. There are these moths with eyes on the wings. We don't know if they can transmit what they hear but it was definitely implied that they share what they see with their owner."

"Do you think they're onto us?" asked Usopp. "Oh no, I'm getting a bad feeling about this. My can't-infiltrate-underworld-organisations disease is acting up again."

"Yet you managed to dismantle one in Alabasta," remarked Robin.

Usopp flinched and started to stammer a response but was cut off by Sanji.

"No, it seems like they just... want to _evaluate_ their new investment," he took another sharp drag of his cigarette and held it a moment before continuing. "Zoro thinks they use it as surveillance but how much the boss sees, I don't know. On my way out, I noticed several of the damned things. They're in every corridor."

The hand holding his cigarette shook as his lips closed around it again.

"That's unfortunate," said Robin.

Sanji's eyes finally found Luffy's. Discomfort, hesitance, guilt. They didn't belong there but there they were. "So visiting Zoro requires some... _acting_. If he doesn't... _satisfy_ the boss, he might be punished or lose his position. Then we lose our chance to get Kiyoko-chan out of there. I know the plan was to take it in turns to visit Zoro but we can't exactly just sit down and chat in his room with him… It needs to be... _convincing_... so if you need me to... well, I can-"

"No," said Luffy, tone low and authoritative.

Sanji froze, cigarette hanging from his lips. "No?"

"No, it's fine. I said I'd visit Zoro today, so I'm visiting Zoro. Sanji said he was gonna wear the Zoro wig Usopp made for him and be on fake Zoro duty for the night so everyone thinks Zoro's still on the ship," Luffy replied.

Sanji's expression was caught somewhere between shock, relief and regret. "I did but you understand that means you have to pretend to be _interested_ in Zoro? You know, like a man might be _interested_ in spending the night with a beautiful lady? You can't just barge in and-"

"I know. I'm visiting Zoro tonight," Luffy repeated in a voice that he hoped left no room for complaint.

Sanji's words and their implications made the prickly feeling more intense, even though he'd eaten his fill, even though he didn't currently want for anything. Except for Zoro to be back. And Nami too. He wanted his nakama back, that was it. That was all.

Sanji opened his mouth as if to protest and Luffy's eyes narrowed in his direction, his body anticipating a fight he knew full well wouldn't come - and shouldn't, not like this.

It was Robin who spoke. "Did you finish the wig, Longnose-kun?"

Usopp started. "O-oh yeah! I did. It was a challenge getting the fibres to lay the right way and have enough volume but that was nothing to the great Captain Usopp. Did I ever tell you about the time I convinced a judge to acquit me of a theft I did not commit by making him the finest wig out of gold?"

"Wow, Usopp!" exclaimed Chopper, eyes sparkling.

"No, I don't believe you did," replied Robin, good-naturedly.

Sanji stood there for a moment longer, looking between Luffy and the rest of the crew. Luffy watched him, watched as he frowned, sighed, then walked back to the strawberries he'd been preparing earlier. Just like that, some of the tension faded. Luffy's prickle returned to a dull itch.

The unease remained. The sound of Sanji cutting strawberries echoed too loudly through the room.

-

The Blooming Orchid was already busy when Luffy arrived. The bar was filled with patrons. Drunken chatter spilled out into the reception area. Someone was playing music but the volume sat in the zone that was loud enough to reverberate oddly through the next room but not quite loud enough to understand the lyrics that accompanied the melody. Nami sat at the reception desk, looking somewhat bored by it all and more interested in talking to the blonde lady beside her than doing what she was supposed to be getting paid for.

Maybe they could steal some treasure on their way out with the gold girl so Nami could get paid for her time here after all.

With that thought in his head, Luffy bounced up to the desk and slammed his hands down onto it, making both Nami and the blonde lady jump.

"Hi!" he said with a bright grin.

Before he had left the ship, Robin and Usopp had practised his lines with him until his head had hurt and he'd been forced to demand another line-learning snack. This had not been one of those lines. It was supposed to be 'Excuse me'. But he didn't need to be excused. And he hadn't seen Nami in three days, so really, he was doing well to avoid giving in to the urge to hug her. He definitely couldn't wipe his smile from his face.

Nami wasn't having that issue. She recovered quickly. "Hello, how may I help you?"

Luffy laughed. Polite Nami was so funny. Her eyebrow twitched. Knowing he was in for another large bump on the head later if he didn't get back to the script, Luffy recited what was pretty much nearly exactly what Robin and Usopp had told him to say (probably) and received a book of pictures and another eye twitch for his efforts.

The book reminded Luffy of the fashion magazines that Nami sometimes got, except that it was almost all pictures and no long articles about matching fabrics together or what would be 'in' next season. Some of the faces smiled up at him. Others pouted. Next to some, there were names and likes and dislikes, things that the omega in question was supposedly good at or wanted to do. He flipped past them quickly, without really reading them. None of them sparked his interest, not even to talk to.

Sanji had warned him that Zoro's picture didn't look like he'd expect. But the face on display was definitely Zoro's. The arms, decorated with golden bracelets, were definitely the powerful arms that swung his swords around with skill and grace. The picture's skin was shiny like Zoro's always was after a particularly intense workout or as he hovered soaking wet over Luffy, having plucked him effortlessly out of the sea. He was just wearing different clothes.

"I want him," said Luffy, sliding the book over the counter towards Nami and tapping picture-Zoro in the chest.

"An excellent choice, sir," said Nami.

She gave him the price and accepted the beli she had set aside for this purpose in the first place. As she took it out of his hand, her smile seemed the most genuine it had been since she'd first set eyes on him. Sanji had been right; Nami was perfectly fine. That thought went some way towards setting Luffy at ease.

"Take a seat over there and Mori will be here to show you to his room in just a couple of minutes," said Nami, brightly.

Luffy did, swinging his feet and watching the bar's customers through the archway to his left. Nami went back to her conversation with the blonde lady. Over the music from next door, he couldn't hear what they were saying.

The couple of minutes passed. Then another couple of minutes passed. Then ten minutes passed and Nami and the blonde woman started to look antsy. Luffy was feeling pretty antsy himself but waited without complaint because Nami had told him to. Because if he got kicked out now then he wouldn't get to see Zoro at all. He felt itchy inside again.

The blonde woman left through the door to the right, returning a moment later only to cross directly in front of Luffy and disappear into the bar. Nami drummed her fingers against the counter.

When the blonde woman returned, it was with another woman trailing behind her. That woman was carrying a tray on which sat a single drink in a long glass. It had cocktail umbrella inside. Chopper would probably love it.

The blonde returned to her seat behind the reception desk. The redhead approached Luffy.

"Long island iced tea?" she said. There was a smile on her face and in her voice. Both were fake; nothing reached her eyes.

Luffy blinked up at her. "Huh?"

"It's a long island iced tea," the woman repeated. "It's on the house. I can get you something different if you prefer but I personally think this is one of the best drinks we provide. Definitely worth trying at least once."

Luffy was not one to turn down free stuff. He took the drink off the tray and stuck the cocktail umbrella behind his ear.

The woman sat down beside him. "I'm terribly sorry about the wait. The compound is a lot larger than it appears. We have a number of beautifully furnished rooms for rent and to care for each of our omegas' needs. It is by no means an excuse but Mori is quite new to this establishment and hasn't quite learnt his way around yet. I'm sure he'll arrive very soon. In the meantime, please enjoy your drink free of charge."

The apology seemed genuine. She clasped her hands together in her lap. The smile on her face seemed strained.

"That's alright," said Luffy. "Our Zoro gets lost all the time too."

The woman's head tilted slightly to the side. "Your Zoro?"

 _Crap._ Luffy took a gulp of the drink he'd been given. It burned down his throat like the burn already grasping his insides - the one that told him he shouldn't have said that. A voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Nami barked at him to fix it. Remember what Robin had said.

"Yeah," he said. "Zoro. He's the swordsman on my ship. He's got green hair too. He wanders off a lot but he always ends up where we need him to be."

The woman gave him a long look, crossing one leg over the other. "You know, I don't believe I caught your name."

"Monkey D. Luffy," said Luffy, because there was no point in lying about it. Besides, Robin had said it didn't matter so... "I'm gonna be king of the pirates."

The woman's eyebrows rose, wrinkling her forehead. For a moment she just sat there on the edge of her seat looking at him. Then she smiled, wide and genuine. She held her hand out to him like she was expecting a low five. "I'm Ruby," she said.

Luffy slapped his hand against hers. "Nice ta meetcha."

Her eyes widened, her red-painted lips parting in a small 'o'. She pulled her hand away, clasping both hands together again like the touch had stung her. Luffy's hand wasn't stinging at all so he didn't think he'd done it too hard.

"Well, Monkey-san-" began the woman.

"Just Luffy," said Luffy.

"Luffy-san," she corrected, smoothing down a dress that wasn't even wrinkled. "Can I get you another drink?""

Luffy regarded her for a moment. "Is it free?"

"Ah, of course," said Ruby. "It's the least we can do while you wait."

"Can I get a free snack as well?"

“I’ll see what I can do,” said the woman with a wink.

Luffy grinned up at her. She turned with a flourish and flounced away, the thick ponytail on top of her head bouncing as she walked.

With nothing to do and nobody to talk to, the only thing left was to drink the drink he had been given. He wasn’t entirely sure he liked it. He was certain Zoro would. If Zoro would hurry up and get here then maybe Luffy would share it with him.

He didn’t. The red woman arrived first, a tray balanced on her arm with another one of the fancy cocktail umbrella drinks and two plates of savoury snacks.

Before she and the food could reach him, a man came bursting in through the main door, knocking into her. She staggered backwards, managing to avoid falling to the floor and spilling the drink over herself. The snacks were not so lucky.

Or maybe they were because Luffy was made of rubber and not about to let food be wasted. He stretched out both arms and snatched the dishes out of the air, redirecting them to spill their contents into his mouth instead.

“Ah, I’m so-“ the strange man began.

But the woman was paying him no attention. Her eyes were wide, her red-painted mouth hanging open as her eyes followed Luffy's retracting arm. Seeing this, the strange man turned as well, seemingly equally astounded by the masterful saving of the snacks.

At the desk, the receptionist that wasn’t Nami dropped the den den mushi on the floor. Luffy chanced a look at Nami but she didn’t appear too angry about it. So it was probably fine.

It wasn’t silent in the reception room. The familiar sounds of celebration and music were still spilling out of the bar. Luffy was still chewing a handful of crunchy nuts, which in hindsight might have needed peeling. The den den mushi was unleashing what sounded like a long beep (though whether it was ringing or because falling hurt was anyone’s guess).

But the reception room had gone still. And into this stillness, the sudden slam of the door against the wall and the muffled curse that followed it caught the attention of everybody in the room.

Zoro stood there, leaning against the doorframe.

“Sorry, I – the corridors – they move,” he said a little breathlessly.

There was a red flush spreading across his cheeks, over the bridge of his nose. Luffy could see it tickling the tips of his ears.

“Finally,” said Nami.

“Wow,” said Luffy before his brain fully caught up with his mouth, staring at the figure in the doorway. “...You do look like Zoro.”

The sentence was one he had practised with Robin and Usopp. It was fake. The surprise was real.

The picture of Zoro in the book looked like a picture of Zoro. Zoro without his earrings or his swords or his haramaki. Zoro wearing weird clothes and jewellery that Zoro would never wear. But it still looked like Zoro enough that Luffy hadn’t really known what Sanji had been talking about when he had warned that Zoro would not be like Zoro.

He saw it now. Or didn’t see it, depending on the way you wanted to look at it.

The Zoro in the doorway looked like the Zoro in the picture but he was very, very different from the Zoro who slept on the deck of the Going Merry. He was even different from the Zoro who leaned against Merry’s railings in the middle of the night, when the silvery light from the night sky shone pale on his green hair and made him look almost more than human. That Zoro was nice to look at. So was normal Zoro actually.

But _this_ Zoro shone gold. He was wearing a black and white patterned robe that flowed around his body, gold chains hanging around his neck, all different lengths so they obscured the bare chest underneath. That was a shame too because someone had painted him. Or perhaps Zoro had painted himself. But his skin was shiny like it had been oiled with flecks of gold sparkling under the lights as he moved.

It reminded Luffy of the gold ‘leaf’ stuff that wasn’t actually a leaf, which Sanji had decorated a cake with once for Nami. Suddenly he wondered if it tasted good. The urge to step over there and lick his swordsman momentarily consumed him.

But the red woman placed her hand on his shoulder and he remembered that he had a mission.

“Mori, this is your client for this evening,” she said smoothly, as she pressed the new drink into Luffy’s hand.

His fingers closed around it instinctively. Zoro smiled. It wasn’t Zoro’s smile. This one was non-threatening and small, not powerful at all. Apologetic. Zoro was not supposed to be apologetic.

Nami coughed loudly into her elbow. It reminded Luffy where he was, that he needed to smile back and couldn’t listen to the prickly feeling from earlier urging him to find the person who had made his crewmate look at him like that and punch them.

“A pleasure to meet you,” said Zoro, holding out his hand in the same weird way that the woman from earlier had.

Since a high-five had not seemed to be the correct response earlier, he got up from his seat and grabbed the hand as Zoro started to pull it back.

There was a brief pause in which neither of them said anything, both looking down at their joined hands. Zoro’s hand was warm in his. Very warm. Had it always been this warm? Luffy ran his thumb across familiar calluses.

Zoro cleared his throat and ended the lull. “I’m sure you already know but my name is Mori. I will be your host for this evening. My room is this way.”

He gestured with his free hand behind him but did not pull Luffy in that direction.

Luffy remembered that this Zoro was not supposed to to know him. “I’m Luffy,” he said with his usual grin. He tugged Zoro’s hand in the direction he had indicated, starting to lead the directionally challenged swordsman down the hallway. “I’m gonna call you Zoro, if that’s okay.”

Zoro allowed himself to be pulled without complaint. “As you wish,” he said.

It was wrong. It should be _yes, Sencho_. It should sound like Zoro wanted to say it. It shouldn't sound blank, structured.

“You can call me Sencho if you want,” Luffy added again before he’d thought about it. “I’m a pirate. I’m my Zoro’s captain.”

There was a small smile on Zoro’s face as he replied, “Yes, _Sencho_.”

That was better. Luffy grinned. “So this is kind of your house, right? Where’s your room? Or are there any other cool places you could show me?”

Zoro looked past him down the corridor. “It’s left,” he said decisively.

“What is?” asked Luffy, “Your room or the mystery room?”

Zoro didn’t turn his head but regarded him from the corner of his eye. “My room. We don’t take guests anywhere else.”

“Not even when you’re pirates and it’s an adventure?” asked Luffy.

“Not even then,” replied Zoro, taking a left at the end of the corridor.

Luffy pouted. He’d been about to say something, even though everyone else had also said that he wouldn’t be able to look around because he wasn’t an omega resident. But that was all prevented when they ran into another man.

“Mori,” said the man. His tone was equal parts exasperation and threat.

Instinctively, Luffy bristled. The man was a beta guard. His arms were folded. He wasn’t actively threatening either of them. He actually looked like he really wanted to go home and take a nap. But Luffy didn’t like his voice, didn’t like the way he looked down his white moustache at his swordsman. It made the prickly feeling worse. He sort of wanted to punch this guy in his moustached nose.

“Your room is _that_ way,” the man finished. “Right, not left. Third door.”

“Ah,” said Zoro, turning back the exact way they had come.

Luffy let himself be pulled even though this wasn’t the right way either. Maybe Zoro was trying to show him somewhere else. Maybe this was part of his plan.

“ _No_ ,” called the man, sounding like he would very much like to punch Zoro in the nose if the opportunity presented itself. “ _Other_ way.”

The guard was scowling. Luffy frowned back at him. Zoro gave his hand a tug in the direction indicated but said nothing. Luffy could feel his tension through his grip. The guard remained at the place where the corridor joined, watching them. Logically, Luffy knew he was probably watching to make sure Zoro didn’t get lost again. But that didn’t mean he liked it.

Zoro pointedly did not look at either of them until the correct door was open and he was inside, holding it for Luffy.

“Are you coming in?” he asked.

Shooting the outside man one last look, Luffy followed Zoro and let the door click shut behind him. The sudden slam of the door created a rush of air, the scent of which slapped him in the face. Wrong. It was all wrong.

It wasn’t Zoro’s scent. It wasn’t anyone’s scent. It was this horrible mashed together blend of everything Luffy had been told that omegas in heat should smell like. Except that it wasn’t one person. It was lots of little hints of lots of different people. It didn’t feel real. It was so strong, it felt pungent. Too much. _Too much_.

He wanted it gone. He wanted one scent and only one.

It must have shown on his face because a look crossed Zoro’s that Luffy very rarely saw on him, mixed with something he really wished he didn’t see right now: uncertainty and concern.

It made that prickly feeling under his skin, in the back of his brain, so much worse.

“Can I offer you…” Zoro began, eyes trailing down to the glass gripped tightly in Luffy’s hand. The ice rattled against the glass as his hand shook in irritation. “Nevermind, you already have one.”

Zoro continued to talk. Luffy continued to stare just to the left of where Zoro’s three earrings should have been, that space in his neck where his scent was strongest. The one scent in the room that he desperately wanted to have.

“-some fruit,” finished Zoro.

"Huh?" said Luffy.

Zoro tilted his head to the side, a slight frown on his face. He lifted his arm to gesture behind and to the right of him, lips parting to repeat what he had just said. Only, as he did so, the fabric of the robe he was wearing shifted slightly, exposing more of his chest as it slipped down his shoulder. And with his head tilted like that, it exposed more of his throat too.

"If you want a snack, there's some fruit over there," said Zoro.

There was indeed an assortment of fruit on a side table behind Zoro. But Luffy's stomach did not rumble in anticipation. His eyes did not want to leave Zoro's exposed skin. He didn't want the fruit; he wanted to bury his face in the space where Zoro's neck met his shoulders. He wanted to taste Zoro's scent on his tongue. And then he wanted to hold him close and warm and rub his own scent all over him until he was satisfied. Until their two scents were one scent. The _right_ one.

Every moment that this wasn't happening intensified the itch that had been lingering under his skin since the day the swordsman had left the ship.

It was a prickly day, a 'hangry' day. It wasn't uncommon for him to feel like he had an itch inside his head somewhere that he just couldn't scratch. Fighting with someone usually helped. The itch converted itself to a need to win and made it more fun than irritating. So did eating a lot of good food that someone else had made. That was the whole point of this feeling being named his 'hangry' days.

Except he never actively wanted these things. Sure, they happened and it helped but the itch was never that specific. It was an illusive itch like when there was something in your shirt and it tickled and you thought it was a bug but you couldn't find it. Then instead of a mystery bug, it turned out that the itch had been caused by a label in your shirt that had been there all along.

This was like that. Seeing Zoro and smelling all these conflicting scents was like taking his shirt off and noticing the label and realising that the itch would be gone if he just cut the label out. He felt it in his very core, like he knew he had to eat when he was hungry, like he felt the drooping of his eyelids when he needed to sleep.

He had to have Zoro's scent. He had to give Zoro his.

Without thinking, he launched himself across the room. In the moment before collision, he saw Zoro's eyes widen and grinned as the swordsman fell back onto the bed, Luffy half sprawled on top of him. Behind them, there came the tinkling of broken glass.

Normally, Zoro would growl at him for that, maybe threaten dismemberment or tossing overboard, maybe promise to get him next time but never actually folllow up on that threat. But this Zoro laid entirely still like he was waiting. Luffy could still feel the tension in his body from earlier. He didn't like this.

He pressed his cheek firmly to Zoro's and rubbed.

A small sound of surprise escaped the swordsman's lips. He titled his head to the side, pulling his cheek away from Luffy's.

Luffy chased it with his own then paused, pulling back slightly. The bare skin of Zoro's neck and shoulder was now exposed to him. The swordsman watched him from the corner of his eye, expression unreadable, but made no other moves. It looked like an invitation.

Luffy had no choice but to accept. He lowered his face to the space he'd been admiring earlier, the tip of his nose pressing into Zoro's warm skin. The scent of summer fruits immediately cut through all other aromas in the room. There was the understated sweetness of blackberries, blueberries and cherries. Intermingling with that was a vague vanilla. It reminded Luffy of pastry and pie. It was almost enough that he didn't notice the sour scent of unripe rasberries that lingered underneath. That was Zoro's bad scent. The sad one. That wasn't acceptable at all.

Without moving his face, Luffy slid to the side so he wasn't laying on top of his swordsman and settled in beside him instead, wrapping his arms around Zoro's waist. A hug perhaps would make Zoro feel better.

It must have done. Luffy's next breath in was more blackberry pie than sour raspberries. He laid there a moment, just appreciating the scent, fingers stroking the muscular arm beside him absently.

"Zoro smells so good," he sighed into Zoro's collarbone. "I want to lick him."

In spite of the heat of his skin, Zoro shivered. Luffy felt his jaw move against the side of his head. "You smell good too."

"Really? What do I smell like?"

He felt Zoro press his nose into his hair, heard him take a long breath in. The chest underneath him rose, paused then fell. As it did, Zoro's body shuddered and a fresh wave of even more delicious scent was released. "... Kind of like BBQ. Fancy BBQ."

The burst of Zoro's scent was so intoxicating that Luffy almost missed the best news he had ever been told about himself. "BBQ meat? Really? That's awesome!" He lifted his head to stare into Zoro's face like he'd find confirmation.

Zoro's face was flushed still, like it had been earlier, but darker over his cheeks. He looked away at first, then looked back with a slight nod. "Yeah. Kind of. And the ocean. Which is wei-" he cut himself off, eyes darting towards the table in the centre of the room.

Luffy followed his gaze, remembering what Sanji had said about the orchids and the moths. Sure enough, there was a brown and red moth sitting on the orchid's leaves. A large brown eye stared back at them.

Zoro turned his face away from it, towards Luffy instead. "Which is... nice," he finished lamely. He was already flushed but he almost punctuated that sentence with a wince.

A sour scent sullied the air. Luffy laid back down, dropping his head onto one of the many pillows. It was soft and smelled of Zoro. The good scent. His mouth began to water.

"So can I?" he said, partly to change the subject.

"Hm?" said Zoro

"Lick you."

Zoro looked momentarily startled before his face reddened again. "Whatever you want."

"I want to know what Zoro tastes like," said Luffy simply.

Zoro looked away. "Then go ahead."

Instead of inching closer to Zoro, Luffy grabbed his swordsman and pulled him until Zoro's back was pressed against his chest. That done, he wrapped his arms around him, one of his hands splayed across Zoro's chest, the other hooked into the sash at his waist. As he did so, the chains around his neck jangled together.

"Those are annoying," Luffy mumbled, resting his chin on Zoro's shoulder.

"Want me to take 'em off?" asked Zoro.

He turned his head slightly like he was trying to look at Luffy, releasing another wave of his scent. Everything about this moment was familiar and comfortable yet new and different. Zoro's skin was hot against his own, his body both hard and soft. Zoro's familiar tone met his ears. He'd missed this voice, liked the way he felt it rumbling through his chest when they were pressed together like this. And his scent - it was so rare to detect on the ship but so quintessentially Zoro. Delectable. And right now irresistable.

In place of an answer, Luffy pressed his lips to Zoro's scent gland, feeling Zoro's body tense against his. His tongue darted out from between lips and stroked the skin underneath. A small sound escaped Zoro's lips, another shudder rolling down his body and against Luffy's. Experimentally, Luffy went to do it again.

Again, Zoro shivered.

"Are you cold?" asked Luffy, even though he could feel the heat of Zoro's body against his own.

"No," Zoro breathed.

Luffy extricated himself anyway, reaching for a blanket at the foot of the bed and pulling it up over both of them. Once that was done, he resumed his previous position, holding Zoro close to him. Satisfaction flooded through him as Zoro shifted in his arms, adjusting his position to put them closer together.

Nuzzling into his shoulder, Luffy asked, "Are you warm now?"

Zoro didn't answer immediately. When he did, it was breathlessly. "Very."

Both of his hands found Luffy's arms, his long fingers trailing up and down, tracing shapes on his forearm. It was so soothing that Luffy couldn't help but hum his contentment into Zoro's ear. The fingers stilled. Then tapped rhythmically.

"Luffy..." said Zoro, twisting in Luffy's grip to face him. His voice was low and urging.

For a moment Luffy didn't understand exactly what it was Zoro wanted. His swordsman fixed him with a look, his jaw set seriously like he was advising Luffy to do something he knew that his captain would find it hard to do. That meant that he had to think about something, puzzle it out. But there was something pleading about the look in Zoro's eyes and his face was still flushed like this was exceptionally embarrassing or like he was sick (but Zoro was never sick). And the scent surrounding him was a confusing blend of baked goods and half-formed wine. It was a blend he thought he recognised but not quite like this.

While Luffy was still busy trying to figure out what Zoro wanted without words, Zoro's hands slipped into his vest, snaking up his back. His hands were large and warm and calloused from years of swordsmanship. They were capable hands, dependable hands, trustworthy hands. And they felt so good as they traced more shapes on his skin.

Luffy touched Zoro all of the time and Zoro reciprocated sometimes in his own gruff Zoro way. But those were casual touches, nakama-on-deck touches. Sometimes they were interrupting-nap touches. But even those weren't anything like this. Luffy liked this. His eyes fluttered closed as he focussed on the sensation of Zoro's touch.

Zoro started tapping him again. Deliberately. Rhythmically. Sometimes holding a finger against his spine. Other times leaving a long pause. Luffy's eyes opened, searching Zoro's face for additional clues.

The swordsman's eyes were closed but fluttered behind his eyelids. That same blush still dusted his cheeks, accented by those little flecks of gold. As he breathed, his skin caught the light and the gold sparkled. Seeing it on Zoro, seeing Zoro like that, Luffy understood why Nami liked gold so much.

Without thinking, Luffy lifted his hand and stroked the soft skin of Zoro's cheek, his fingers trailing down to the side of his neck.

Zoro's eyes snapped open as Luffy's fingers continued to drift down across his collarbones. His hands stilled, pausing mid tap. Zoro's skin was hot under Luffy's searching fingers, hot and oily. Luffy brought his fingers to his lips and licked them, tasting fake-vanilla like Nami's fancy bath stuff and sweat. Underneath it all, he scented Zoro, his blackberry crumble scent the best of all of the tastes on his tongue.

Both sides of his brain reached a conclusion simultaneously. First, there was logic. That told him that the tapping was a code, that Zoro was trying to get a message to him unnoticed by the other eyes in the room. It did not tell him how to decipher it.

Then came the other part, the part that remembered Arlong park. The part that had compelled him to stumble across deck in the early hours of the morning towards Nami's room just to get a taste of whatever it was that could possibly smell that good. It was the part that was now telling him to slip his hand into the front of Zoro's robe and pull him closer. This part realised where it had come across this scent on Zoro's skin before.

When Zoro had been in heat.

This part of him ached and prickled and tingled. It _needed_ and that was new.

"Are you..." Luffy began and paused to swallow. His hand drifted lazily down, across the chains around Zoro's neck and to the sash that held his robe closed. "Are you in heat?"

Zoro's eyes widened. The blush deepened across his cheeks. He looked down from Luffy's face to his exposed chest, then up and behind him to the wall. "No, it's - it's not that. It's not like that," he said finally. "It's fine."

 _Is it?_ Luffy asked with his eyes. He didn't think it was.

But Zoro managed to meet his eyes, still blushing fiercely, and his eyes were fierce too. It was the most Zoro look he'd received since arriving, even if there were undertones of vulnerablity to it, tension still evident in the hard plane of his chest.

 _Yes,_ said the determined look on Zoro's face as he tapped at Luffy's back again three times in quick succession.

Right, the mission. The mystery code.

Luffy reached for Zoro's sash and pulled it loose. The swordsman jerked under his palms, uttering a small noise of surprise, but Luffy ignored it, spreading the robe open and returning Zoro's earlier gesture. He pulled him in close, wrapping his arms around him until he had his hands positioned perfectly on Zoro's unblemished back.

Once there, he drew with one finger, 'I don't understand.'

Zoro laid very still for a moment longer, then shifted. His bare leg rubbed against Luffy's as he leaned in to speak into Luffy's ear: "Do it again."

There was something about his tone that was decidedly not Zoro but also very Zoro. There was also something about the way that the words ghosted the rim of his ear that made Luffy want him to do that again. A wave of pleasure rolled down his body like stepping into a hot bath in the minutes before it would make him dizzy and weak at the knees.

Still basking in it, he drew the sentence again. Zoro arched into the touch.

"Mmm," he said, with a scarcely perceptible nod. His eyes had fallen shut but now fluttered open, fixing Luffy with a half-lidded look. His next word was very nearly purred. " _Again._ "

The sound sent heat pooling in Luffy's belly, something fluttering in his stomach. He felt his own cheeks begin to warm as he felt Zoro's eyes on him, felt because it was almost like his skin was tingling with anticipation. Suddenly the small gap between them was too much. Suddenly he needed to bury his face in Zoro's shoulder until this weird sensation died down.

So he did. He pulled Zoro closer until the metal of his chains dug into his chest, pressing his face into the space between Zoro's neck and shoulders. He stroked the smooth skin of Zoro's back for a moment, appreciating it as a testament to his swordsman's strength, before remembering that Zoro had asked him to do something. And what was that again?

_The message. Don't forget. The mission. Zoro can't come home until it's over._

That was very important. Zoro needed to come home as soon as possible. That was most important. Luffy started to trace the words again and as he did, instinctively nosed the side of Zoro's neck, the omega swordsman holding perfectly still while his captain inhaled a breath of sweet summer fruits. His exhale came in the form of shuddering sigh that brought his lips into contact with Zoro's skin. It felt right.

This was not the first time they had been this close. Luffy had slept next to Zoro several times. He had even slept _on_ Zoro. Sometimes it was even deliberate. But it was the first time that his lips on Zoro's skin had felt like this. It was the first time he'd ever wanted to touch again, a little higher, and again, just under the space where Zoro's earrings should be. It was the first time he'd wanted to _kiss_ Zoro. The first time he'd wanted to kiss anyone.

"Zoro," he said, without pulling back. His voice vibrated through the swordman's shoulder. His hand stilled, its owner having completely forgotten which part of the sentence he was was writing.

Zoro shivered, responding with a light gasp that prompted Luffy to let his hands trail down to the small of the swordsman's back. They fitted there. They belonged.

"Zoro," Luffy tried again. He took a breath to continue, momentarily losing all thought to the fresh wave of Zoro's scent that met him, sweet on the tip of his tongue.

"Yeah?" replied Zoro breathlessly.

Luffy succuumbed to the need to look at the swordsman, as though what he wanted to express could be said with his eyes. He pushed away, feeling a pang of regret as his skin lost contact with Zoro's.

Only to stop, something holding him in place. Slowly, with all the coordination of drunken men, he and Zoro both looked down to where their bodies were still joined - Zoro's chains entangled with the the buttons of Luffy's vest.

Zoro pushed himself up on one elbow, hands searching for the clasp at the back of his neck. At the same time, Luffy made an attempt at slipping out of the offending article of clothing. Surprisingly, Luffy succeeded first, a bundle of red fabric falling half into Zoro's lap.

Zoro sat up, twisting to show Luffy his back with a muffled curse. "Can you?"

He slipped his robe down over his shoulders to better expose the back of his neck, tilting his head forwards.

Something compelled Luffy to run his hands over Zoro's bare shoulders on their way to the necklace clasp. Zoro sighed softly in response. The clasp was easy enough to do yet for some reason, Zoro's shoulders jerked when his jewellery dropped into his lap. The swordsman looked down at it for a moment as though trying to figure out its purpose, while Luffy rested his chin on his shoulder.

"Zoro," he said again, feeling the swordsman lean back into him at the sound of his voice.

As he did so, the jewellery in his lap slid onto the floor, gold chains tinkling together. It snapped Zoro out of it, making him sit suddenly straight.

"I'll just..." he began, gathering Luffy's vest in his hand. The tips of his ears were red and Luffy wanted to take one into his mouth and scrape the top of it with his teeth.

Luffy wanted to complain as his swordsman slipped out of his grip, scooping up his jewellery along with the vest. But as Zoro stood, his robe slipped down to his elbows, revealing the entirety of his back. The sash that had been keeping it closed still had one end trapped beneath Luffy's knee. It unravelled as Zoro walked, falling to the floor like a belated red carpet. Zoro didn't seem to notice as he set the items on the table. But Luffy did. Luffy noticed.

Because when Zoro moved to return to him, the black and white fabric that had been covering him suddenly barely covered anything. In fact, all that it covered was his forearms and the backs of his legs as it trailed behind him.

Luffy had seen Zoro's bare chest before. His gaze had slipped down from his ample bosom, followed the defined lines of his abs, and even chased the hard v shape cradled by Zoro's hips down to the swordsman's dick and confirmed that yes, his hair was green everywhere. But all of those other times, they had been bathing. They had been surrounded by nakama and he had been motivated by general curiosity and observation. He had seen but he hadn't appreciated.

And he was 99% certain that even if he hadn't been fully paying attention because there had been other important matters at hand (like splashing Usopp at the exact moment he turned around to get him off guard and squarely in the mouth), Zoro's penis had not been standing at attention.

It was now. And now he looked at it, he noticed other details. Like the fact that there was none of the oily stuff or the gold flakes on any of Zoro's skin where it had previously been covered but that the skin between his thighs was shiny.

Zoro's feet followed the line of his sash back to the bed, his hands scrambling to hold his robe closed. "Luffy, I- ah!"

Luffy cut him off by grabbing the top of his thigh with both hands. He dragged his fingers over the shiny part between his legs, finding it to be slick and not at all like the oil he had everywhere else. Zoro's hands lost their grip on his robe, his dick twitching, exposed to the air. He drew in another sharp breath.

And oh, _oh_ , Luffy understood.

He looked up to find Zoro looking away, a strained expression on his red face. The scent in the air shifted, both sickly sweet and sour at the same time. Like before, it was too much. But this time, Luffy knew what it meant. If Zoro said it wasn't, then it wasn't heat. But it was need. Very specific need. A very specific need that he was suddenly very aware of in his own body.

But Zoro's bad scent, the sour one, was also present. And Luffy needed that to fix that even more.

"Zoro," he said, making a grab for Zoro's hands as he tried to reclaim his robe. "It's okay." He looked up, pinning his swordsman with his gaze. "It's okay," he repeatedly more firmly and gave the hands a squeeze.

Makino had told him that not long before he'd left the island. Some of the bandits had taken him for a drink, made an attempt to introduce him to the 'finer' things in life. He'd very quickly found himself making his way back to Makino's bar, sitting on a barstool alone and guarded. Makino was an omega too, had a scent like flowers and pears. It wasn't attractive to him; none of them were. But that was okay. That was fine. It was fine not to want that. It was fine not to be interested.

It was especially fine to wait for someone you loved, she had said. However long that might take. Sex could be fun and he was a healthy young man, she'd said. She wasn't going to advise him against it. But she did say never to do it with anyone he didn't trust. And always ask permission. And be safe.

He could feel Zoro's hands, usually so solid and steady, trembling in his. The omega swordsman took a deep breath and replied as he exhaled, "Yeah."

"Wanna get back in the bed?" asked Luffy.

This time, Zoro's response was more certain, more Zoro. "Yeah."

Luffy grinned up at him and Zoro looked away as he pulled back the covers. Zoro made to sit but Luffy stopped him before he could, hands tugging at the fabric bunched around his elbows.

"Zoro should take this off," he said.

Zoro swallowed. Without saying anything, he let his arms drop to his sides, the robe slipping off him and pooling at his feet. He sat, naked but for bangles around his wrists and ankles, and started to tuck his feet under the covers.

As he did, Luffy found himself appraising the swordsman's body again, this time without the shock. Minus the gold, Zoro had always looked like this. Past Luffy just hadn't noticed. Past Luffy was a fool. Past Luffy would not have worn these shorts if he had known. They were uncomfortably tight around the crotch. Every time he shifted now, the rubbing of the seam at the seat of his pants was maddening.

Acting on impulse, he threw back the covers that Zoro had just finished settling into and stood on top of the bed. There, he yanked his shorts down, his own erection springing free, and tossed them unceremoniously on the floor.

"They were uncomfortable," he said, by way of explanation, dropping back down with a bounce. A bounce that was surprisingly satisfying.

"Right," said Zoro, who was now even redder and not looking. "You didn't... You didn't put underwear on?"

"Nope!" said Luffy with a grin. "Sanji said he was doing laundry today so I didn't do any. Now Sanji's gonna do all of mine too."

"I bet the... I bet this Sanji person will enjoy that," said Zoro dryly.

Luffy grinned and laughed because Zoro sounded almost like Zoro always sounded.

Zoro had laid down with his back to him but turned his head to look over his shoulder. The look in his eyes was warm. The sour scent had started to fade. Luffy smiled and received a small smile in response.

He loved Zoro. He definitely loved Zoro because Zoro was nakama. He also trusted Zoro with his life, with all his nakama's lives, with anything. Zoro was part of his home. He was their safety. And right now, the look in Zoro's eyes was making him warm, was making him want to resume the hug from earlier. But the thought of doing so, of Zoro's bare body against his own, was making him want to initiate something else.

Before he'd decided, he had already wrapped his arms around Zoro's waist.

Love? Check. Trust? Check. Safe? He and Zoro were both here so that was a definite yes. All that was left was...

"Hey Zoro?" he said into Zoro's ear.

Zoro had gone very still. The sour scent had started slip back into the sweet one, contaminating his enjoyment of summer fruit crumble with raspberries that were either not ripe or were overripe. The bad scent. Luffy hated it, wanted to cuddle him until it went away again, but something told him that allowing his hands to roam Zoro's body now wouldn't help.

So instead, he asked: "Do you trust me?"

Zoro stiffened in arms, then relaxed, tension leaving his muscles like a balloon with the air let out. "Of course," he said, paused then added, "Sencho."

That same warmth flooded through Luffy's body, now burning hotter than it had before. He closed what little gap there was between them, pressing his chest into Zoro's back and nuzzling into Zoro's neck. Zoro gasped, a shudder rolling through him as the scent of summer fruits lingered in the air. At the same time that Luffy brought his legs up to entwine with Zoro's, the swordsman's hips rolled backwards, resulting in Luffy's penis poking him in the butt.

The sudden touch of another's warmth against the sensitive tip of his dick made Luffy gasp, rolling his own hips reflexively. That motion put his penis sliding between Zoro's buttcheeks and clenched thighs, his tip rubbing against something hot and wet between Zoro's legs.

A startled sound escaped the swordsman at the first touch, dissolving into a moan. It went right through Luffy.

"Zoro," he panted in Zoro's ear, feeling his swordsman shudder again. "Is this okay?"

"Y-yeah," said Zoro. His thighs twitched, squeezing Luffy's dick and making him give a breathy moan of his own, directly into Zoro's ear.

"Can I-" Luffy began. "Can I touch you?"

"Yes," breathed Zoro.

One of his hands found Zoro's pecs, squeezing each in turn, his thumb brushing over the the swordsman's nipples.

"Mmm," Zoro moaned, fingers grasping at the covers.

His hips rolled backwards and forwards in slow but steady rhythm, his breathing coming in short, sharp pants. As he did this, he clenched and unclenched his butt, squeezing the base of Luffy's penis and sending sparks of pleasure up his shaft and into his core like electricity.

Luffy found himself thrusting into the gap made by Zoro's body automatically, relishing the sounds his swordsman made as he rubbed his hardness against him. One of his hands trailed down Zoro's chest, tracing his muscles, following them down until they came to Zoro's own penis and gripped the base firmly.

Zoro's hips bucked in response, his thick scent now nothing but lust.

Luffy's lips found the source, his scent gland, and sucked on it, prompting Zoro's entire body to tremble as he moaned.

"Luff-" he began, breaking off in a gasp as Luffy's teeth scraped at his sensitive skin.

"Zoro," Luffy breathed, running his hand down the length of Zoro's dick and rolling his thumb over the tip.

He felt Zoro turn his head towards him, and lifted his own to take in the sight of the swordsman in his arms. Zoro's eyes were closed, his eyelids fluttering as he tilted his head back and moaned. His lips were parted, his cheeks flushed. Pure pleasure was written across his face.

And he was breathtaking.

"Zoro," Luffy said again, breaking off with a gasp as Zoro pushed back against him and squeezed. "Can - can I kiss you?"

One of Zoro's eyes opened and fixed on him, a look in them that Luffy had never seen before. But he didn't get to puzzle on it, couldn't even if he wanted to, because Zoro's hand came up to cup his cheek, thumb carressing his cheekbone, and then warm lips pressed against his own.

Their kisses were feverish, desparate. They devolved into feather light touches as Zoro twisted in his grasp to maintain contact and Luffy panted, thrusting wildly into the slick space he had created.

Feeling himself approaching the edge, Luffy pumped Zoro's penis to the rhythm of his own frenzied thrusts, his other hand gripping the swordsman's chest like it was a lifeline. Until Zoro cried out, body jerking and squirming as his orgasm hit. The feeling of that and the sudden gush of hot slick between Zoro's legs pushed Luffy over that same edge harder and longer than he'd ever reached it before.

For several minutes, he just gripped Zoro tightly and panted, unable to draw enough breath to erase the white sparks from his view. Satisfaction flooded through him with the aftershocks of pleasure, the prickly feeling from earlier replaced by a pleasant buzz. He could just lay here. He should just lay here.

Then he felt Zoro shift in his arms, rolling out of his grip.

He growled, grabbing at him and dragging him back. "No," he said, adding as Zoro made a questioning sound: "Zoro stays."

"You don't want to go clean up?" Zoro asked.

There was something pointed about his tone. Something serious that was at odds with the lax satisfaction of the body in Luffy's arms. But like this, comfortable and warm beneath covers that smelled like a perfect blend of Zoro and himself, he found that he couldn't bring himself to care. Zoro didn't smell sour. Zoro smelled like Zoro. The good Zoro. The right Zoro. And something primal inside Luffy, something that was very satisfied right now, told him that he didn't have to care.

He simply had to stay here like this and hold him.

"No," he said, snuggling up to his swordsman. "Zoro stays here with me."

Safe. Warm. Loved.

_His._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> I'd love to hear your thoughts <3 I also accept constructive criticism if there's anything you think I could be doing better.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following his night with Luffy, Zoro gathers some information and risks discovery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, Hope, remember when you said you were going to make the chapters shorter? That went well, didn't it? This is actually half of what Zoro's chapter was supposed to be but this seemed like a good place to cut it. It does mean I have a solid head start on the next part for Zoro.
> 
> A lot has happened to this poor soul in the past couple of days. If I had been smarter, I would have included more from him earlier on. Maybe if I do a rewrite at any point. As it is, I hope you enjoy this chapter. It may be long but there's a lot of info in it.
> 
> Triggers in this chapter: references to past non-consensual sexual experiences and unhealthy coping mechanisms. Pretty much straight out of the gate. There is also a skeevy moment at the end of this chapter which might make a person uncomfortable. The powers that be in the Blooming Orchid are not enjoyable individuals.
> 
> Some forewarning: Zoro's chapters are going to get worse before they get better.

Somebody was knocking at the door. The knocks were polite yet insistent. Zoro pulled his covers over his head, snuggling deeper into his accumulated warmth as he waited for whoever it was to go away. He took a deep breath in to exhale a sleepy sigh, surrounded by the combined scents of himself and Luffy... and stale sex.

That woke him. Memories of the previous night came rushing back, knocking the air from his lungs.

"Mori?" came a voice from the door.

It wasn't any of the beta guards, none of whose names he knew or cared to know, most of whom he'd already managed to piss off. This voice was soft, deliberately so.

He wanted to smother himself with his pillow rather than leave his bed and talk to anybody but while he felt justified ignoring the guards, he couldn't ignore any of the other omegas. That would jeopardize the mission. And while Zoro didn't personally care whether it all devolved into violence in the end, messing up his part in this plan made the whole endeavour pointless. If he was putting himself through this, it couldn't be pointless.

So he cleared his surprisingly dry throat and replied, "Give me a second."

He wasn't sure if the other omega ignored him or simply didn't hear. But as Zoro extricated himself from the covers and stood, bare feet meeting the bunched up fabric of last night's clothes, the door opened with a soft click. And closed with a much louder one. Of course, nothing was private in this place.

Karamel stood by the door, wearing an outfit that reminded Zoro of a carnival dancer. He was either immaculately presented for the day or still decked out in finery from the night before. His cheeks were dusted with gold, warm brown eyes lined in black. It made exceptionally obvious the path those eyes took - from the broken glass smashed across the floor only a couple of feet from him up to Zoro's scattered clothing spreading from the table to the bed, then finally up Zoro's very bare legs, lingering on the dried mess decorating his exposed skin.

Roronoa Zoro was not a shy man. He had few issues with his body's outward appearance. He had no issues with baring skin to others. He might not have been overly enthused by the composition of his genitals but he still had pride in everything he could control. He didn't shy away from the gaze of others.

But the older omega's gaze burned his skin. He didn't run away; he wasn't a coward. He knew that the ugly well of emotion rising like a bad taste in the back of his throat was ridiculous, unnecessary. He was playing a part, the logical part of his mind told him. He had pleased his captain, the messed up remnants of his instincts reminded him. Besides, the other omega was an actual sex worker as opposed to a fake one and had seen this sight many times before, probably _been_ this sight earlier in the day, he finally concluded.

It did not ease the shame.

"Oh," said Karamel, softly, his eyebrows rising in mild surprise before his face settled into a smile. "I see you had a more successful night than last night."

Zoro looked sharply away from the other man, scooping up the crumpled robe from the floor and forcing his arms through the sleeves. As he leaned town to retrieve an equally creased sash, he noticed Karamel looking up at the clock with a frown.

"We have fifteen minutes until breakfast and we absolutely cannot be late," said the other omega. "It seems that coming to get you was a good choice."

Karamel heaved a performative sigh as Zoro located the nearest pair of shoes and shoved his feet in them.

"Will it take us that long to get there?" said Zoro, leaning over to tie sandals that were at least 70% string in what was most probably the least aesthetically pleasing way possible.

He remembered vaguely being told where the dining hall was on his first day. He did not remember what he was told. He hadn't needed to so far; somebody had either brought him to whichever meal it was or the food had been brought to him - like breakfast yesterday when he had been seated in the doctor's office, receiving a look of disdain masked by concern on account of his 'limited' performance the night before.

"No," said Karamel, looking at Zoro's sandals as though his ineptitude physically pained him.

"Then it's fine," Zoro replied, realising as he straightened up that it was a little too dismissive and adding, "Isn't it? We should be on time."

Karamel took a deep breath, pausing for a moment before replying, "No - I mean, yes, we should be. Just. We need to make you presentable first."

Zoro raised an eyebrow, leaning down to retie his shoe.

"No, no," said Karamel. "Keep them on so you don't step in the glass. Come on. Bath, quickly. We don't take last night into this morning here."

With that, he vanished into the bathroom. Zoro started as a dark shape he belatedly recognised as a moth rose from the table and settled just above the clock, affording it an excellent view of the bath.

"Mori?" called Karamel over the sound of rapidly running water.

Zoro tore his eyes from the moth and followed the other omega into the bathroom, skirting around the smashed glass that Luffy had left behind. The scent of spilled spirits lingered in that area and even though none of them were Zoro's favourite, his mouth still watered at the thought of a real drink. Any drink actually; he realised with sudden clarity that he was parched. He hadn't had eaten or drank anything since long before he'd gone to pick up Luffy from reception.

The moment he was inside, hands were undoing his sash in one swift motion. He stumbled, his feet freezing mid step. It was only that which gave him time to pause, time to think instead of reacting. He managed to avoid shoving the other omega off him or taking a step backwards. He wasn't certain he had managed to control his face.

If Karamel noticed, he didn't say anything, hands traveling upwards to slide the robe back over Zoro's shoulders. By the time the robe fell to the floor, the older omega had already stepped back and was appraising him with a critical eye.

"No marks, good," he said more to himself than Zoro, then waved towards the bath. "Well? Get in. Wash yourself quickly - we don't have much time. I will get an outfit for you."

The other omega passed him by. They didn't touch but the billowing of his loose clothing sent a light draft across Zoro's bare skin, making him shudder. In its absence, his skin felt hot, an unpleasant tingle dancing across his stomach and down his thighs where dried semen and slick still clung to him. With an entirely different shudder, he hopped into the still filling bath and dunked himself under the water.

Ordinarily, Zoro was not thorough about bathing. He cleaned himself, yes, but it was more about the feeling of the warm water cascading over his skin, soothing overworked (correctly worked) muscles and refreshing him. And having a brief respite from Nami complaining about sweat.

This bath was not that. This morning, Zoro grabbed the soap and scrubbed away the last lingering traces of the previous evening. The sound of the bath still running obscured the sounds of Karamel rummaging through his wardrobe. It brought back other memories: whispered conversation, feather-light kisses to his collarbones, the tight grip of long fingers on his thighs. Then falling back. Hands holding him down. Knees spreading his legs.

That took him further. Different hands. Different knees. Bruised wrists and honeyed words.

The soap slipped from his fingers, splashing water into his face. With a muffled curse, he plunged his hand in after it, grasping it too tightly with both hands as he took in a painful breath. His heart squeezed in his chest.

"There you go," said Karamel, sounding quite pleased with himself as he hung a dark green robe over the towel rack. "Casual and understated but clean, at least." He paused, leaning against the sink. "Are you alright?"

Zoro lifted the soap and placed it back into its porcelain dish. "Yeah, just - I dropped it," he finished lamely, bringing his hands back into the water to scoop some up and release it over his shoulders.

He resisted the urge to dunk his entire body and hold his breath until it hurt.

Karamel fixed him with a look, crossing the room in a couple of measured strides. He perched primly on a dry part of the bath's edge and reached for Zoro's face.

_Don't touch. Don't touch me._

Zoro sat perfectly still. He didn't even breathe. Karamel's forefinger came to rest under his chin, his thumb on top as he tilted Zoro's face to the left then the right.

"Hmmm," said the other omega, leaning back to get a view of the clock. "We have just enough time to do something about this. Are you clean?"

_No._

"Yes."

Karamel held a towel out to him and Zoro gingerly positioned his legs underneath him to stand. The older omega did not move away until Zoro had wrapped the towel around himself and turned off the water, leaving behind a half filled bath. Then without a word, he walked over to a cabinet by the sink and started to look inside.

Zoro stood on the luxurious bath mat, drying his body with an overly fluffy towel. His heartbeart sounded loud in the silence. He took a deep breath of too-sweet air and held it, noticing the last lingering vestiges of honey-glazed meat. Luffy's scent. He took another, holding that one too. Then another. The bath mat felt warm underneath his feet. If he closed his eyes, he could almost have been standing on the rug in the men's room.

Except that everything else was wrong. His next breath held more sweet caramel and cream than fancy barbequed meat. Zoro felt its absence like a physical blow.

He opened his eyes to Karamel's soft brown ones too close to his own. The bath against the backs of his knees prevented him from moving away.

"It's alright to feel a little overwhelmed," he said softly, holding up some kind of makeup.

It wasn't a sleight. Karamel was not an opponent, nor was he the cook. The cook didn't touch him like this. The cook understood his boundaries. For the most part.

The cook had stopped.

He shook his head, trying to resummon his initial irritation at having his ability to deal with this situation questioned. "I'm not," he replied, a little too sharply.

Karamel paused, sighed. "Hold still," he said, grabbing his chin again to smear something cold under his eyes.

"What-" Zoro began.

" _Still_." It was not a request.

He stood perfectly still as whatever product it was got smoothed into his skin, another couple joining it. Last came something that shimmered gold and was brushed over his cheekbones.

Karamel stood back with a satisfied smile. "There, now you look rested. Well, better than rested. Very good, even if I do say so myself. Put on the clothes, quickly."

Zoro did, paying no attention to the other omega. The sash he had been given was gold and wrapped around him twice. This fancy fabric was a poor substitute for his haramaki. He leaned down to tie his shoe, winding the leather strings around his leg properly this time. A handful of gold chains was dropped over his bowed head.

"Excellent," said Karamel, glancing at the clock. "Perfect. Five minutes - let's go."

The corridors passed them by in a blur. Even though Zoro tried to memorize which turns they were taking, every one looked the same. Every alcove had the same orchid, even if its colours were slightly different, and the same moth rested in the same place on the leaves. Zoro's head ached. The corridors shifted. The floor moved under his feet.

Karamel reached out and grabbed his hand, linking their fingers together.

Zoro stiffened. A soft thumb danced across his knuckles. The air around them shifted, a sweet scent enveloping them both: warm cookies and hot milk. Comforting, parental, safe.

And wrong. All wrong.

It was supposed to make him feel better, clearly. It only served to remind him what he really wanted, what he really needed, what comfort, safety and family actually smelt like: home was on the Going Merry. He ached for it, felt it underneath his skin, and hated it.

He was stronger than this. He was better than this. He would get this job done and get out of here as soon as possible.

"Just on time," said Karamel as they approached a place where four paths intersected.

Another couple of omegas were coming out of the one to their left and turning to continue straight on. One of them saw Karamel and waved, while the other smiled and nodded. Zoro pulled his hand free and hooked it into his sash.

Karamel raised an eyebrow but said nothing, following his two coworkers down the corridor.

Zoro paused at the crossroads, looking down each of the other corridors for any sign of what might be down there. The answer was doors. Many other doors. Several other omegas too, though none matching his description of the gold girl. To his left, a beta guard leaned over a girl in a doorway - probably the one to her room.

He stood there for a brief moment. There had already been a faint tingle to his skin all morning but something about the guard and the girl shrinking away from him made the skin on the back of his neck prickle. He paused long enough that Karamel, halfway down the next corridor and in conversation with his friends, paused and called, "Mori?"

His job was to play a part - a standard omega part. He was not the pirate hunter Roronoa Zoro. He was Mori, a male omega, hoping to stay here - in one of the better omega houses. He was supposed to be looking for safety and a steady income. He was not supposed to be looking for trouble. He was not supposed to be looking for a fight.

The intelligent choice would have been to walk away and catch up to Karamel, who was one of his best sources for information here. But when had he ever made a smart choice when it involved walking away from a fight?

He turned down the other corridor, haunted by the ghost of his true confidence as he walked towards the pair in the doorway. The closer he got, the worse he felt about this situation and the better he felt about this choice.

"-very kind of you but I - I'm afraid I really can't today. I have to-" the girl stammered.

The beta man leaned in closer to her as he spoke so that his final question was practically whispered into her ear. "Work. I know, I know, little doll. I promise you we'll be back in time for your shift. Just a quick trip. What do you say?"

From Zoro's vantage point, her hopeless expression was clear to see. Another omega walked past without sparing the scene a glance.

"I- I'm so-"

Zoro stopped in front of them. He had no weapons; his swords were too distinctive and had been left on the ship. But his hand automatically thumbed fabric of the sash where they would have been.

"Hey," he said.

The girl's voice died with a squeak. The guard continued to lean his hand on the wall over her head but straightened his spine, turning his head to look Zoro in the eye. Zoro realised that he was still ever so slightly taller than this guy, not that he needed it to give him an advantage.

"Can I help you?" the man's voice was cold.

"Yeah," said Zoro, in his usual tone, belatedly attempting to correct it. "Yes. I heard it was a rule not to be late for breakfast, but I don't know the way." He turned from the man to the girl. "You need to go too, right?"

"Y-yes!" said the girl, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "I can show you. It would be horrible if you got into trouble for being late."

"Mm," said Zoro. "I've been told that."

The girl slipped out from under the guard's arm and took hold of Zoro's wrist. He could feel her fingers quivering as she offered him a shaky smile.

Out of her line of sight, the guard scowled and Zoro narrowed his eyes in the man's direction but his focus remained on the girl.

Fixing her with a fake smile, he said, "You're right. You can't be late to breakfast now. But think about my offer, Sakura doll. I'll be back before lunchtime."

With that, he turned and stormed off down the corridor, almost running into a familiar figure on his way.

"Good morning, Condor!" called Ruby, spinning on one foot to follow the guard's progress down the corridor.

The guard snapped back, "Hurry up - you're late to breakfast!"

"It's a lovely day, isn't it?" Ruby called after his retreating back before resuming her progress up the corridor towards them.

The girl give Zoro's wrist a light tug. Her hands were too small to close around it, her touch gentle and entirely foreign to him.

"It's this way," she said quietly, adding at barely more than a whisper, "Thank you."

He looked away, eyes accidentally meeting the bulbous brown ones of the moth in the nearest alcove. Carefully, he replied, "I only asked for help getting to breakfast on time."

The girl looked up at him. All of the omegas in the house were either what most people would classify as attractive or had features that were unusual enough to make them appeal to bored betas with too much money. Zoro was not an authority on omega attractiveness. Zoro was not an authority on attractiveness in general. But if he had to guess, he would put this girl in the latter category. Everything about her was pale, unnaturally so, including the eyes that now regarded him with an unreadable look. It made her pale pink hair seem bright by comparison.

"Good morning, Mori, Sakura," greeted Ruby as she reached them, nodding her head towards each of them in turn. "Better hurry - I heard we were late to breakfast." There was a smile in her eyes.

"Ah y-yes," said Sakura, releasing Zoro's wrist. "Shall we go?"

She phrased it as a question but she had already started to walk, a nervous smile on her face. Zoro and Ruby automatically fell into step next to her.

As she did so, Ruby bumped her hip against him, speaking without really moving her lips, face tilted to shade it. "You weren't subtle."

Zoro shrugged and gave nothing away.

-

For all the splendour and thematic decor of the rest of the building, breakfast reminded Zoro of his time at the dojo. Like the students had, the Blooming Orchid's residents formed a line to arrive at a hatch. Unlike the dojo, this was not a service line and there were not any choices to be made or extra portions of any particular things to convince any cooks to switch out. The omegas simply gave their name and received a portion of food, a drink and a small cup of pills.

Four long tables stretched the length of the room and seated more people than Zoro had expected to be living here, though none of them matched the description he'd been given of the gold girl. Despite Karamel's insistance that they arrive on time for breakfast, there seemed to be no structure or timing to the meal. Once he had led Zoro to the end of one of the tables and settled himself on the bench, he simply greeted the omegas who were already there and started eating.

It wasn't until Ruby sat down beside him, still talking about a bar fight she had witnessed the night before, and Sakura beside her that Zoro noticed the differences in what was on each of their trays. While the meals were the same, the portion size on Ruby's and Sakura's plates was significantly smaller than his own. And that wasn't all that was disproportionate.

"You only have two pills," he observed, looking between Ruby and Karamel. "Why?"

His own little cup housed three pills. A quick glance around told him that while everyone else was at different stages of meal consumption, nobody had touched their little cup yet and most little cups also contained two pills. His eyes lingered on Sakura's tray, which like his own, sported a cup with three pills.

Noting the direction of his gaze, she looked down, shoulders hunched. Ruby's arm brushed hers in a way that was too casual yet too measured not to be deliberate.

"We have been here a long time," she replied, tactfully.

Zoro raised an eyebrow. "What does that have to do with it?"

Ruby sighed, opening her mouth then closing it, then opening it again as she thought of a response. Her frown highlighted lines on her face and made her appear older than Zoro had first thought. On Zoro's other side, Karamel popped a piece of meat into his mouth and chewed slowly.

The loud chime of a bell rang through the air.

Ruby's shoulders sagged as it did, Karamel swallowing his mouthful immediately with a gulp that would have been audible if not for the continuous call of the bell. Almost in tandem, every omega in the vicinity reached for their small cup and upended the contents into their mouths, chasing it down with their glass of water. Zoro watched as Sakura took hers one at a time, lingering over the last one - the red tipped pill that was the same as the extra one in his cup.

Ruby elbowed him in the ribs. "Take them. You have to take them at the same time every day. That's what the bell rings for."

"Why?" asked Zoro.

Karamel handed him his little cup, fixing him with an impatient look. "Because it's not as effective if you don't and it's not something you want to fail."

Zoro caught the eye of a nearby guard, whose eyes were narrowed in his direction. The man took a step towards them, the sound of his single intent footstep echoing through the hall in the sudden absence of the bell. Ruby pressed the glass of water into his other hand.

Zoro eyed the pills, unable to fight the frown that furrowed his brows. There were more eyes on him now, a murmur from a couple of nearby women. Another footstep.

He had taken these same pills the day before in the doctor's office, been told that they were to 'manage his health and his cycle'. He hadn't wanted to take them, had held them under his tongue until he'd been asked to stick his tongue out so that the doctor could get a good look down his throat. That had clearly been a ruse but it hadn't mattered at the time; he had faith in his body's strength. It was necessary for the mission. A girl's life was riding on it. He'd promised Luffy. He'd had no choice but take them.

Something about the conditioned way that the entire hall had taken these pills made him feel it was an even worse idea now.

But there were too many eyes and not enough choice. A moth's wings fluttered on the ceiling.

So he swallowed the pills dry.

"Water," said Ruby. "You'll choke."

He took a sip of water even though he didn't need it. Immediately, the tension in air eased like a collective sigh had been released. That one guard's eyes lingered on him a little longer but everyone else went straight back to eating or talking. Some started to stack their trays to leave.

He waited until the attention was entirely off him to say anything, taking a mouthful of meat (smaller than usual) to take the clinical taste of unnecessary medication away.

"I wouldn't have choked," he said finally.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Karamel attempt to hide a small smile. Sakura blushed.

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Not having a gag reflex doesn't mean you're immune to choking."

He didn't argue with her that it did. Instead, he let his eyes do a quick and subtle sweep of the room to see who was listening. Satisfied that it was probably nobody important and not particularly caring if the moth noticed anything, he asked, "What was the third pill?"

Ruby set down her cutlery, dabbing primly at the corners of her lips with a napkin. It didn't suit the way she had acted in the bar or the way she had spoken in the hallway. Sakura was suddenly very invested in slicing her carrot.

The answer came from Karamel. "Is it important for you to know?"

"Yes," said Zoro, without skipping a beat. "I care what I put in my body."

Karamel tilted his head to the side, giving a little nod as he considered this. "Well, it is your livelihood, I suppose. The house wouldn't do anything to cause us harm. We have a mutual interest in keeping our bodies healthy."

Zoro kept looking at him. "I still want to know what it is."

"Do you ask what's in your food too?" asked Ruby.

Zoro replied a little too curtly, "I know what broccoli looks like without having to."

The corners of her lips quirked upwards. She looked down at the napkin in her hands and started to fold it, her expression making a forced shift towards neutral.

Karamel sighed. "It's because you're new and it might be a little more challenging to perform at your best while you're still... settling in to life here. As you found with your first guest, I might add. It's just a little something to, uh, _loosen you up,_ shall we say?"

Zoro froze mid-chew. He'd been running hot these past two days, not quite feverish but fuzzy like some of the gears in his head weren't quite aligned right. He'd blamed the situation. Hyperawareness and exhaustion caused by having to play this role, things he should be better and stronger than. Suddenly, cold and clarity descended on him, starting in his gut and spreading up his spine. The food in his mouth turned to tasteless mush.

He had just enough presence of mind to swallow before hissing, " _What?_ "

Karamel misinterpreted the cold cocktail of rage and hatred running through Zoro's veins as fear. "Oh, don't worry - it's not a heat trigger, though you might feel that way a little bit." He paused, chewing thoughtfully for a moment. "I think it _is_ based on that actually." He lifted his shoulders in a light shrug. "But like I said, it's just to make your body a bit more _responsive_ so you feel more _inclined_ to perform at your best."

Ruby's elbow bumped against his own. Zoro's eyes instinctively focused on her, through the horror now flooding through him. Her lips were pursed. She shot a sharp look in Karamel's direction before adding, "It won't send you into a heat. Not unless your heat was already on its way when you took it. You might be more susceptible to the triggering effects of an alpha's rut but that's really not a problem here unless you're planning on going out, which I assume you aren't since you just got here. And it's only until your performance stabilizes, never long term."

At this, Sakura seemed to shrink in on herself but Zoro only passively noticed the movement, unfocused eyes trained on his plate. A bad taste rose in the back of his throat.

It all made a horrible sense now. His skin tingled like it had under Luffy's touch the night before, only with none of the rushes of pleasure nor the comfort of marinated meat drizzled with honey and intermingled with seasalt and possibility. He wanted to tear his skin off rather than feel it now, like this.

It wasn't a heat, he told himself. The other omegas hadn't been lying; they had no reason to. They had nothing to gain from witholding that information from him... Did they? He shook his head slightly, shaking away the thought. They did not. So it wasn't a heat, wasn't going to be. He wouldn't be left powerless and wanting in a place surrounded by strangers.

He was never powerless.

 _Except he was,_ reminded that little part of him that had never forgotten, that he had actively pushed away for so long that he'd thought even his muscle memory had faded. Another way he had failed.

He shuddered then realised with a jolt that he didn't even know what day it was. The memory of his last heat flashed into his mind. After Arlong Park, the night they had departed Cocoyashi village. Soft and silky bedding. The scent of oranges and money. Nami, bringing food clearly made with his condition in mind and sitting on the end of the bed to ensure that he ate it. He knew when it had been but not how long.

How many months? Two? Three? It couldn't have been more than three. He'd have known that before agreeing to this. He'd have thought about it. He'd have felt it, right?

Ruby cleared her throat. An open satchel sat in her lap. From within, she pulled out a wad of paper and slapped it down on the table. Beside her, Sakura watched with concealed interest. Karamel leaned closer to Zoro, his elbow resting on the table and his chin on the back of his hand.

"-100 million belis!" concluded Ruby, pulling the top sheet of paper out of her stack and pointing at the figure on the paper.

Zoro didn't see the number. He was too busy finding familiar eyes with a curved scar underneath, the figure of Usopp hidden in plain sight in the corner. Luffy's wanted poster. He swallowed, mouth suddenly dry.

Karamel released a low whistle, clapping a hand down on Zoro's shoulder. "That's a big bounty."

"And you know what big bounties mean?" said Ruby with a playful wink. She nudged Zoro's arm with her elbow. The scents of cinnamon and sundaes hung too thick and too sweet in the air.

Zoro didn't reply. They touch felt like needles to his skin. Underneath Luffy's wanted poster, he could see his own green hair amidst a background of dust and ash.

"Big money," said Karamel with a warm smile. "The more notorious the pirate, the more treasure they have to expend."

He held his hand out to receive the poster and Ruby reached over Zoro to hand it to him, exposing the poster marked Roronoa Zoro to full view. Hands now free, Ruby pointed one perfectly shaped red fingernail at the pirate hunter's paper face.

"Lucky you look like his first mate," she said, her eyes sliding to Zoro's rapidly paling face.

The buzzing was now not only over his skin but between his ears. _Shit._

Karamel set down Luffy's poster, looking over at Zoro's own. "Does he? Mmm, I guess the hair is the same."

Ruby looked like she wanted to say something but closed her mouth again before speaking.

"You're prettier than that," concluded Karamel. "This guy looks borderline feral. Probably an alpha - that would explain why Monkey D. Luffy is looking for the omega version."

Zoro looked down at the poster. The picture had been taken in Alabasta. There was blood splashed across his face. He wasn't looking at the camera but he appeared ready for a fight, for unlimited fights, in fact. The real Zoro fought the urge to cover the poster. His own face mocked him and it only took one person to notice too many similarities. It was one thing to slip under the radar when compared to the concept of his true identity. It was another thing entirely to be compared side-by-side to a picture of his face.

He took a careful breath, trying to regulate his breathing and his facial expression so as not to give anything else away. If he was discovered here, if he failed here after taking those pills, after living this life, he'd kill someone. Promise be damned, that moth-watching bastard at least would die by his hand.

"What was he like?" asked Ruby, apparently ignoring Karamel's statement. "He seemed... interesting. Did you show him a good time?"

Zoro picked up Luffy's poster, placing it on top of his own and hiding the pirate Zoro's face from view. His fingers lingered on the paper, underneath Luffy's distinctive scar. They remembered brushing that scar as they caressed the soft skin of Luffy's cheek, moments before he brought their lips together.

_"Zoro, can - can I kiss you?"_

His heard thumped unsteadily between his ears. He tried to hold that memory instead of this, but it only served to remind him of the others.

"He did," confirmed Karamel when it became apparent that Zoro wasn't going to. "He paid extra to stay until morning."

"He seemed like he's got stamina. Apparently, he's made of rubber too so everything stretches," remarked Ruby.

At this point, Zoro wanted the table to swallow him whole. Or to bash his face into it. Or to pick it up and throw it at the nearest guard. Still reeling over the pills, his own lack of knowledge and the fact that his wanted poster was right there and had probably been seen by the moth on the ceiling even if nobody else was concerned by it, he couldn't do any of those things.

Karamel placed a hand on his arm. "Do you think he'll request you again?"

That was a question Zoro could answer, a question he knew the answer to. He latched onto that, even though the words stuck in his throat. "He said he would."

Luffy had promised actually, had held his face in both hands and promised in that tone he used sometimes that left no doubt. He was coming back. And Zoro knew that. But it hadn't been part of the plan for Luffy to return two nights in a row and it had left Zoro wondering, uncertain which of his nakama would be walking through the door today. Luffy or Sanji. It would be one of them; it had to be.

"They always do," said Ruby, a sharper edge to her tone.

For some reason, it rubbed Zoro up the wrong way. He bristled. "He will."

Ruby smiled. It was fake. There was something sad in her eyes that wasn't. "I hope he does," she sniffed. "He seemed fun."

"He was," said Zoro automatically. _He is._

"If he does, it's great for you," stated Karamel.

 _Yes,_ Zoro wanted to reply. _What's your point?_ But that would have been rude or at the very least defensive and even though he wanted nothing more than to throw the plan aside, snatch up the wanted posters and go with Luffy's initial thought of beating up anyone who seemed vaguely important until he got the right people, he couldn't do that. He'd made a promise. Luffy had promised that guy. For his captain as much as for the girl, he couldn't push these omegas away until he had all the information he needed.

He felt sick. The meat on the plate in front of him smelled wrong.

Karamel simply looked at him for a moment longer, something smug about his expression as his eyes drifted back down to the wanted poster. A satisfied smile grew on his face and he directed the rest of his sentence to Ruby more than Zoro. "If the house can squeeze more money out of a big name like Straw Hat, the big boss might see your worth as an investment."

He hooked his little finger over the edge of his sleeve, daintily pulling it down to expose the lines of decorative gold embedded in his skin. They caught the light as he tilted his wrist, catching the attention of both Ruby and Sakura. The latter looked immediately away, popping a piece of carrot into her mouth. The former met Karamel's eyes, stony faced.

"Yes," she said, forcing a slow smile as she spoke. " _He's_ arriving this afternoon, isn't he? I already know."

"My schedule was cleared for this evening," said Karamel, watching Ruby from the corner of his eye.

"Was it?" she said. "Must be nice to have an evening off. I have the bar to run tonight."

"Oh, it won't be off, I'm sure, but it will be nice," Karamel practically purred.

Zoro pushed his plate away as Ruby straightened the stack of wanted posters on the table before replacing them in her satchel.

"You should eat that," said Karamel. "You'll need the energy."

-

Karamel disappeared immediately after breakfast, leaving Zoro in the care of Ruby. Zoro would have resented the insinuation that he needed a babysitter, did resent it a little, but it worked in his favour. While all he actually wanted was to go back to his room and crawl back into the bed, the hour or so of recreation time that the house omegas were permitted after breakfast was a good time to scope the place out. Something he needed to do as soon as possible if he wanted to leave sooner than possible.

Again, he tried to follow the path they were taking but again his head started to spin and building shifted around him. Ruby linked her arm with his, keeping up a mostly one-sided conversation as she brought them out into the courtyard. His skin burned where she touched. It took all his self control not to jerk his arm away.

Cool outside air washed over them. It soothed Zoro's heated skin, the touch of salt to the air of the seaside town reminding him of Merry's deck and grounding him enough to take in his surroundings properly.

The courtyard was less of a courtyard and more of a paved seating area which opened out onto a large garden. Ruby led them across the paved area, where a small group of women sat playing cards, and onto the grass. Zoro felt it, still damp with morning dew, poking through his sandals.

"It's especially nice in the summer," she said, as they entered a small grove of trees, which turned out to be larger than he had first guessed. "This a good place to come to have some peace... and privacy. It's quite secluded here, especially if you like the smell of lavender."

She paused beneath a tree that was already harbouring half-furled flowers, pulling a picnic blanket from her satchel. Zoro watched her spread it on the ground and gesture for them to sit with a flourish. Sakura seated herself at one edge, leaning over to waft the scent of a nearby lavender plant towards her. Zoro sat on the furthest edge away from the two women and the plant, the scent of which seemed to stick in his nose. Breathing through his mouth was not much better. Lavender was fragrant, he knew that, but this was almost offensive. His nose must have wrinkled without his knowledge because Ruby laughed.

"I know," she said, quietly. "But which do you prefer? Lavender or moths?"

A light breeze passed over Zoro's skin, bringing with it the realisation. "The moths don't like lavender?"

Ruby shook her head. "Or Rosemary. There's some of that in the garden too, by the mint, though it's close to the kitchen so not ideal for relaxation. A little loud, which is not what you want after a long bar shift. I like the peace here."

She leaned back against the tree trunk, the back of her head resting against the bark. Zoro filed that information away for later. Lavender, rosemary, steam and water. Moth repellants. If Sanji visited this evening, he'd be able to pass that information on to him. Maybe he could get Luffy to douse himself in lavender and rosemary scented perfume or something. The thought of that, yet more overpowering fake scent covering the distinctive scent of Luffy put a bad taste in his mouth.

He took a deep breath in, tasting the lavender on his tongue. He must have pulled a face because Sakura handed him a bottle of orange juice.

For a long moment, nobody said anything. Ruby's eyes were closed. Sakura sipped at some orange juice of her own, shoulders still hunched like she could make herself smaller. Zoro looked away, keeping half his attention trained on the door they had come out of but seeing nobody but the card-playing women nearby.

"I'm sorry about Karamel," said Ruby without even opening her eyes.

Both Sakura and Zoro turned their heads to look at her and, as though she sensed it, she opened her own, looking up through the canopy of leaves. "He should be looking after you but..." She sighed, looking suddenly a lot more tired. "He's enjoyed the favour of the big boss a bit longer than most do. He's overconfident enough to believe he won't lose it so he won't view you as competition but not so much that everything else doesn't fall by the wayside when he's here."

The words felt honest. Zoro suddenly wanted to ask her why she was telling him this, what her goal was. Sakura looked down at the picnic blanket and offered no insight.

Ruby continued, turning her gaze in his direction, "Once the big boss has moved on, you'll probably be his top priority again."

Zoro felt like he was missing something but the world was still shifting with movement of the breeze, his head still aching and disconnected. "You mean, the moth guy isn't here all the time?"

Both Ruby and Sakura gave him a look.

"The man we saw in the bar, with all the moths. You said he was the boss."

"Oh," said Ruby. "No, _no_. Not the boss. The boss runs this house but it's one of several. The big boss is his older brother and oversees them all. He used to be be based in Rainbase, Alabasta but after the civil war there and Sir Crocodile's arrest, it's not such a profitable venue anymore so he's probably looking to relocate. It's a shame - the Alabasta house was beautiful."

"You say that like you've been there," said Zoro.

Ruby looked at him oddly. "I have. I used to belong to that house."

"What made you come here?" asked Zoro before he'd thought about it, immediately thinking of several reasons to leave Alabasta. The lack of rain. The civil war. The sand. The fact that it was too damned hot or too damned cold depending on the time of day.

Ruby seemed to choose her words carefully. "Karamel is not the only one who once enjoyed the favour of Ochre Han. When that man says jump, you don't question it. He brought me with him when he visited a few years ago and gave me to his brother. He told me he wanted to bolster the business here."

"You don't believe it?"

"I'm good at my job," she said, as though it answered the question.

"You never wanted to go back?"

"I wasn't asked." She sniffed, shifting her legs to a more comfortable position. Her knee cracked as she did so like a twig snapping in the woods. She looked down at it wistfully. "Besides, the climate may be different but the houses are the same. Same job. Same standards. You can say what you want about the Ochre brothers but it's not a bad life. It's safer than most for an omega. They're good to us here. You'll see."

His eyes slid across to Sakura, whose shoulders were still tense, gaze still fixed on her orange juice. He recalled her shrinking away from the beta 'attendant'. They all reminded Zoro of prison guards. Prison guards or opportunists.

"Are they?" he asked pointedly.

Ruby regarded him for a moment. "You've never been to another house, have you?"

There was no point to lying. "No."

Her shoulders lifted then lowered. She leaned back against the tree again. "The house protects us. We don't have to worry about violent alphas or being forced into a bond against our will. They give us birth control and keep us healthy. They're good to us."

Again, he looked at Sakura, who frowned into her orange juice but didn't see it. It might have been better to hold his tongue but the words found their way out regardless. " _She_ didn't look very protected earlier."

Sakura flinched.

Ruby sighed a long suffering sigh. "That's... it's different," she said like she was talking to a child.

"Is it?" said Zoro.

"Yes," Ruby insisted, fixing him with a sharp look. "All of the guards are betas and they don't... it's favours. It's part of the system."

"Oh?"

"You need a chaperone to leave the house. That costs money and is added to your expenses. Unless of course, you can get a guard to take you off the books. For a favour."

He folded his arms over his chest. "Didn't seem to me like he was doing her a favour."

"It's probably not something you'll have to worry about with how well you've endeared yourself to the staff," said Ruby somewhat scathingly as a breeze rose and played with her hair.

Sakura squeaked, audible even over the rustling of leaves.

Both Ruby and Zoro turned their heads in her direction and found her pale blue eyes wide. The rustling of leaves masked footsteps, footsteps that Zoro noticed belonged to four figures making their way through the trees. Around the shoulders of one of the figures was draped a large brown coat. As he walked, it rustled with the fluttering of moths wings. By Zoro's side, Ruby stiffened, sitting bolt upright. Her familiar cinnamon scent met Zoro's nose, overpowering with its spices.

"It's him," she said, through still lips. The wind almost took her words.

She and Sakura both seemed to hold their breaths, both of them rigid where they sat.

Zoro turned fully to watch them, keeping his own body language as relaxed as possible. Behind the boss was a larger man in finer clothes. Like the boss, he carried a gold tipped cane and wore a hat tilted slightly to the side. His clothing was all black and purple, accented with gold buttons and trim. He cast his eye over the garden and its occupants like he owned the place. Judging from Ruby's reaction, he probably did.

Behind him followed two female figures, cloaked in black and nestled in hoods. As Zoro watched them, they fell back while the two men made their approach.

"So you see, brother, the grounds are well maintained and enjoyed by our staff," the boss was saying. There was a moth crawling on his cheek, wings fluttering uneasily.

Disgust pooled in the pit of Zoro's stomach. He tried to keep it from his face. Ruby's foot knocked into his.

The other man was not looking at the garden. Instead stormy grey eyes fell on the three of them. He stopped a few feet away, lifting a hand and curling his pointer finger.

"Ruby," he called, like a person might call a dog.

Ruby rose seamlessly, approaching him as though his voice directly controlled her limbs. Zoro couldn't see her face, but as she bowed her head, the ponytail on top of her head shook.

"You've enjoyed my gift then, Goethe," said the man in a tone that wavered between boredom and disdain.

He captured Ruby's chin between his finger and thumb, tilting her head as he saw fit. His other hand came up and brushed her hair back off his face. She shuddered but said nothing, did nothing.

"Oh, uh, yes, brother," said the boss.

"Truthfully, I didn't expect to still find her here," said his brother.

The gust of wind which blew through echoed the coldness of his tone.

"Ah, well, she has proven herself very useful in the mentoring of new hires and she's a valuable member of the bar staff," stammered the boss. "I assumed you intended that when you so graciously awarded her to me."

His brother released Ruby roughly. She didn't stumble but was forced to take a step to the side. She stood there as if frozen, head bowed and face hidden by her hair.

"Merchandise expires," said the man. "Remember that."

"Y-yes, of course. Trust me, the overall quality of of our stock is very high. We-"

The brother cut him off, pointing one long finger at Zoro, who realised with a jolt that he'd been openly scowling. "You," he said. "Come here."

He wanted to refuse, if only because what he really wanted, more than anything, was to slam this man's face into the ground hard enough that he would swallow every single one of his teeth and bite himself in the ass the next time he had to take a shit. His hand itched to hold a blade. If this was the big boss, the man in charge of all of these houses then surely this was the man they needed to beat up to take the girl back.

But he still didn't know where she was. So he held his tongue and his urge to maim and stood. He couldn't manage a smile. It was the most he could do to keep his expression neutral. Even so, he wasn't such a good actor that he'd be able to keep the hatred from his eyes.

"Name," barked the man.

"Mori, sir," said Zoro, the words clipped.

"Mori, hm?" echoed the man.

Sharp eyes regarded Zoro with the same kind of sick amusement that a child with a magnifying glass regarded the ant about to meet its fiery demise. Zoro remained where he was, expression blank. From the corner of his eye, he could see Sakura staring resolutely at the floor, delicate fingers gripping tightly to the picnic blanket underneath her. Ruby lifted her head, haunted eyes seeking his. A reminder to be polite, not make this any worse.

This was as polite as he could manage. "Yes, sir," he said, bowing his head with false respect.

"I see it," said the man. His voice rumbled and lingered like a purr as he closed the gap between them. A large hand, larger than his own, cupped his cheek. It came to rest on the side of his neck, fingers tracing his earlobe on their journey.

Zoro froze, body tense like a coiled spring. Rather than making him 'loose', whatever pills he'd been taking only served to strengthen his impulse to jump back. Jump back and launch a punch that would break this guy's nose. Only his initial shock stopped him, allowed him to stand perfectly still and not even breathe.

"You would look lovely with earrings in," mused the man. "Three of them, gold and teardrop shaped. Right about _here._ "

Zoro's blood ran cold, invisible icy fingers scraping at his spine.

A predatory grin spread on the man's face as he took another step, the toe of his boot brushing Zoro's bare toes. This man was taller than Zoro and leaned down to run his tongue along the surface of Zoro's earlobe, catching with his teeth the space that Zoro's earrings had hung until four days ago. Cold hands gripped his arms too tightly, holding them down against his sides.

_Fingertips bruising flesh, hands holding wrists. Heavy, too heavy. The weight pinned him. He couldn't move._

_His body betrayed him._

Before he could anything, before he could even react, a tongue trailed down to his scent gland, teeth nipping at his sensitive skin. Pain and pleasure surged down the side of his neck. Pins and needles erupted over his body.

_His body betrayed him._

The man stepped back. "See to it that it's done as soon as possible.," he said to his brother, while blood pumped hard between Zoro's ears. "He has holes - they should be filled."

"Y-yes, brother, I'll have it done now," said the boss.

Ruby cleared her throat. Holding quivering hands together, she said, "We asked Mori about his piercings when he arrived, sir. The holes have healed over. He can't get an earring in, he said."

He had said that. He hadn't wanted to run the risk of being discovered. His earrings were distinctive. Any similar set might have given him away. The trees shifted and swayed around him. The ground joined them, rolling like a phantom sea.

_His body betrayed him._

The boss' brother turned, regarding Ruby coldly. "They don't look that healed. Force it in and it will open. If it tears, we'll have Kiyoko fix it."

_Kiyoko._

He turned to the two women standing a few feet away. One of them, who had been looking towards the building turned sharply back in their direction as though the name had made her jump. As she did, the sudden movement and a gust of wind pushed her hood back over head. Strands of dark hair had escaped a short braid and whipped around her face. But even with this obscuring Zoro's view, there was no mistaking the mole on her chin or the shape on her cheek.

The missing girl had a birthmark on her cheek, pink and white, in the shape of a flower unfurling from a bud.

This girl had a mark too. A mark that looked vaguely like a flower. Only, instead of pink and white pigmented skin, this mark was etched in gold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed in spite its length. From here on out, we'll be up to date with everyone and the pace will pick up.
> 
> Please let me know any thoughts! Comments of all kinds give me the fuel I need to keep writing <3
> 
> I also accept constructive criticism as well as suggestions for anything you might want to see from this fic (though I do have a plan and I can't promise I'll take them ^^ )

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> This is absolutely not the sort of thing I usually write. I also don't share my work that often so any comments would be greatly appreciated. They bring me life.


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